Brains
by helloOctopi
Summary: It all started a few days before Rick exiled Carol and the Governor Destroyed the prison. Daryl and a scouting group found a girl who had jumped into a river to escape walkers but before they could get any information out of her The prison is breached and he, Beth, and this the new mystery girl escape into the world. Who thought we'd ever hear Daryl Dixon stutter bashfully?
1. In the begining

DISCLAIMER (I don't own the walking dead. I do own the character Daisy and any other Original Character that maybe sprinkled into the story, however few and far they may be.)

PLEASE ENJOY DON'T FORGET TO RATE AND REVIEW! 3

Long dark brown hair whipped back and forth desperately searching for the best possible exit to get itself out safely. She had seen the uninfected group of humans walk past the shop earlier, a man with shaggy brown hair and a muscle shirt had tried the front door and once he discovered that it was locked he squinted and shook the door violently making enough noise to attract a walker. One of his comrades, obviously trigger happy, shot at the walker—whether they managed to dispose of it or not Daisy didn't know nor did she care at this point. Those three shots had attracted a walker that was roaming around near the broken window she had climbed through to gather supplies. And was now attempting to claw its way in through the broken glass. Daisy being on the other side of the small convenience store had no idea that the undead man was in the building until it snatched at her hair causing her to shriek in fright. She jumped on top of the pharmacy counter and searched the store desperately for the closest and safest possible exit. Her shriek had drawn even more walkers to the broken window and there was no way she could use it to exit now. The only other possible route was the front door. She would have to risk being seen by the uninfected group. Even uninfected humans were dangerous in the apocalypse, men and women alike would pretend to save you and then stab you in your back just so they could collect whatever you had in your survival bag at the moment.

Daisy made up her mind in an instance it was either risk being seen or risk turning into one of _them,_ which was completely off the table. She picked up her crowbar and swung hard at the walker's skull nailing it right in the eye, using her foot she pried the crowbar out of the zombies head destroying its nose and brain. The undead corpse fell lifeless to the ground and Daisy hopped off the counter one hand gripping the metal bar and the other her backpack strap. She reached the front door and smashed it open with her weapon of choice, the walkers were right on her tail so as soon as she broke the glass enough she crashed her body through cutting herself up pretty bad. But she didn't stop the brown hair green-eyed girl ran over the bridge hearing gunshots and yelling in the distance of her mind. Suddenly it was as if time had stood still in front of her were a group of walkers as well as behind and to her right was the group of "currently" uninfected fending off another group of walkers. She accessed her options quickly and just as the group noticed her she hopped onto the ledge of the bridge and jumped down into the rushing waters below her, Daisy's legs swung wildly before she finally hit the water with a painful splash.

The rushing current was quickly pulling her deeper and deeper under the raging river's water. With her last burst of energy Daisy kicked and swam for her life towards a large bolder jutting out above the surface of the water. Her body screamed in protest she hadn't eaten in days and drank very little water, Daisy's body was on the verge of giving out on her. As if a miracle had happened her fingers grazed the boulder and she clawed her way up tearing up her fingers and nails. Her lungs were starting to feel extremely tight from lack of oxygen and she was starting to panic even more than she had before. The fact that it could be the end was the only thought that was running through her mind. And as if lighting had struck twice her head breached the surface of the water and with one forceful swing her long brunette hair was thrown behind her and she crawled feebly onto the onyx boulder. She lay helplessly on the boulder resembling a dead fish that had been washed ashore.

Daisy could hear ringing in her ears and the rushing water but in the distance she could vaguely hear, "Girl! Hey girl—Yo, crazy bitch on the rock!" She used her remaining strength to turn her head and see who was calling her before she finally passed out from exhaustion.

The sound of sound of laughter woke her up, by the volume there were quite a lot of people—Daisy hadn't been on her own for long. The emotional wounds were still fresh in her mind it was just her and her older brother traveling the country together without a care in the world. They didn't make far before the world fell apart, the two hailed from New Jersey and had only made it as far as Georgia…some road trip that turned out to be. Two weeks prior Daisy and her brother Liam had the misfortune of running into a group of unfriendly men while on a run.

She sighed of course she couldn't have just died. God wanted her to suffer; the big man upstairs wanted her to watch the most heinous crime being commit against her brother. And he wanted her to see it while she knew that he sacrificed his life so she could live.

She opened her eyes to meet gray stone, alarmed, she turned her head to see herself in a small stone room with bars.

'Jail,' she thought instantly. Daisy stood and walked over to the bars trying to pry the door open but she was locked in. Panic set in, had she been caught by the men from before? She smashed her face against the bars and peered as far as she could down the hallway and below her once she found that she was on the second floor. A blonde girl was walking passed the door and paused, giving her an odd glance. Realizing that someone was there witnessing her smash her face into metal bars for a better view and jumped back and smoothened out her half destroyed tank top clearing her throat.

"Um, hi there," she said awkwardly but at the sound of her voice the girl screamed and ran down the stairs. 'What was a little girl doing in a prison' she asked herself. The girl's scream caused a commotion and several people came bolting up the stairs to her cell door.

"She's awake!" An older woman with short gray hair exclaimed. She noted that a few of the people looked very sick possibly infected but she was safe behind these bars for now. Daisy felt like an animal displayed at the zoo the way the people gawked at her.

"Um…hi," She tried again sure she would get a different reaction from the adults. Before anyone could respond the sound of boots on metal stairs caused everyone to clear a path. Four men walked through the parting in the crowd the shaggy brunette from earlier, a shorter Asian man, a stick thin man with longish curly brown hair, and an older man with a long white beard and a limp.

"Everyone clear out and give us some space," The thin curly haired man exclaimed as he pulled out a key ring and unlocked the cell door, "Some of you shouldn't even be out of bed yet." He glared at a dark skinned woman with unruly hair and added pointedly, "Sasha." She looked down at her feet and the crowd dispersed.

"Glad to see you're up and about," The man said turning his attention back to her curious gaze. "I'm Rick, you're safe don't worry." He introduced himself as he pulled the door to the side allowing them entrance into her cell.

The shaggy haired brunette and the Asian man stood back against the walls of the cell and the older man walked up to her and took a hold of her hand taking notice of the newly bandaged arm. "How are you feeling young lady? My name is Hershel Greene I've been taking care of your wounds." He held his hand out and Daisy shook it, so far so good. These people may clearly be stationed inside of a prison but they didn't seen threatening so far, at least they had women and children with them.

"Daisy Marlow," She said quietly, it wasn't like her to be quiet but she was currently backed against the wall of the cell she woke up in not 10 minutes prior surrounded by four unfamiliar men whilst seeing they had a whole crew as well to back them up that they had dispersed.

"It's nice to meet you Daisy, don't be alarmed you're not in jail—"

"She is in jail," the Asian man interrupted quickly causing Daisy to smile slightly.

"T-thank you Glenn," Rick shook his head in amusement, "Well we are in jail but we all sleep in cells this is where we're held up." Daisy waited for him to continue, "Right now you're in Cell Block C, normally we would have held you in the medical wing but a flu epidemic broke out and we're currently housing our worst patience there. There's not much room and we didn't want to expose you to anything potentially dangerous."

'Huh.' Daisy thought ,'That sounds nice enough.' Her eyes flicked up to the man who shook the Pharmacy doors earlier. He was glaring at her with a deep scowl fixed on his face. She looked down at her feet when she noticed he was staring right back at her and then met Rick's gaze once more.

However, Hershel was the one who spoke up, "I've bandaged your wounds, just minor cuts and scraped nothing to serious. And I had you hooked up to an IV for two days to help ease your dehydration and malnourishment. There's not much I can do obviously considering the state out there but I did the best I could with what we had. The real healing will start once we get some solid food in that small stomach of yours." He smiled.

"Two days?" Daisy questioned sure he had been mistaken.

Glenn nodded and interjected, "Two days, three nights technically." He gestured oddly with his hands before stepping back once he felt the brunette man's glare on his, "Sorry, man. Why'd they bring us if they didn't want us to talk? …Just makes no sense." He muttered the last part and this made Daisy visibly smile, Glenn was awkward and funny and he was definitely relieving the tension in the room, that she was thankful for.

Rick snorted, "You were exhausted when you jumped into that river, and I'm sure you're still exhausted. I know for a fact that Hershel wants you to rest more so we'll talk later tonight. Before I forget my manners this is Daryl he's the one who saved you." He gestured over to the scowling man.

Daisy almost laughed, "Saved me? He was the reason I was in so much trouble to begin with." Daisy narrowed her eyes at the man who cocked an eyebrow at her comment, "Incase you haven't realized the infected are sensitive to sound, it attracts them. Next time, don't shake locked doors so loudly." She added in frustration.

Rick cleared his throat and Glenn swallowed nervously looking between Daryl and Daisy unsurely, "Well, um, Daryl's cell is right next to yours incase you need anything." He informed moving on from my statement, "He'll be back for you after dinner, sleep well." The men turned and one by one retreated back into the prison.

"What for?" I called curiously behind them. Daryl turned just outside of the door being the last one out.

"I ask the questions 'round 'ere." He grumbled with a thick southern accent as he slammed the door shut to her cell with a menacing bang. "And I know how ta get answers." He added as he turned on his heel towards his cell.

Daisy flushed herself up against the bars again and stuck her hand through snapping at him, "Hey um Daryl?" he turned his head slightly towards her acknowledging her as he stopped at the entrance of his cell. "Could, um…maybe not get those answers by torturing me?" Daisy knew her sarcasm would be the end of her but she just couldn't help taking her chance when people left a beautifully set up for her. She could have sworn she saw the scowl of his lips twitch slightly into an amused smirk for a second but it was almost like the Mona Lisa. The mouth never moved and it was definitely a scowl but in the right light it totally could have been a smirk. She walked over to her cot and laid down, she was cold from the IV drip and she was still very tired so she decided to take their advice. Each of the new faces she had just met flashing through her mind as she tried to remember their names, the last one she could remember before she fell asleep though was her brother. Always her brother, he was the last thought that occupied her mind every night before she dozed off into the blackness.


	2. Into the Wild

Voices woke Daisy up for the second time today but instead of it being a group of people she recognized it to be Daryl's.

"Man, you couldn't have waited till we got back?" He asked obviously pissed off about something.

"Till Tyrese got back?" Rick asked.

"I could of handled that," Daryl grumbled obviously knowing that Rick was right about their argument.

"Hey, hey! She killed two of our own. She couldn't be here anymore. She's gonna be alright. She has a car, supplies, weapons. She's a survivor." Daisy squinted in thought maybe everyone in the group wasn't as 'good' as she thought they seemed. There's always more than meets the eye is what her dad used to always say.

"Stop saying that like you don't believe it!" Daryl snapped, Daisy could here his heavy booted footsteps walking back and forth pacing in front of where she presumed Rick to be standing.

"She did it, she said it was for us. That's how it was in her head. She wasn't sorry." Rick pleaded. Not realizing that there was a cup on the floor Daisy tried to stand quietly and stretch but knocked the cup over gaining the attention of the two men outside her cell.

"Daisy?" Rick tried cautiously not sure how much she overheard.

"…yeah?" She answered meekly after a pause.

The two appeared at her door and if looks could kill, well Daryl must have had that look tattooed to his face right now.

"Hey, I just woke up. Am I still locked up?" She asked as she tried the door but to no avail.

"Yeah but you can come out. I'm sorry, we've had some issues lately and you just can't be too careful…about anyone." Rick added looking at Daryl who grimaced.

"Yeah…Don't I know it," She replied as Rick opened the door

Daisy stepped out of her cell and looked around at what she could see. "So I mean, thanks and all but I can just be on my way. It seems like you guys have got your hands full with enough people at the moment."

"You're welcome to stay Daisy, there's safety in numbers." He paused, "You just have to take a test of sorts."

"A test huh? What kind of test?" Daisy asked.

"Just three questions, I have to go talk to Tyrese. But Daryl will ask you the questions while he shows you around."

Daryl's head snapped up and he glared at Rick, "Man, I've got better things to do right now after you dropped that bomb."

Rick sighed and fixed the other man with a stern look, "Daryl you saved her. You're the welcome committee."

"Fine, but I'm not gonna like it." Daryl huffed crossing his arms over his chest like a child. Rick smiled and turned to walk down the stairs and the two followed in silence. Daisy took notice to all the entrances and exits in the room. It was better to be prepared just incase. Rick veered off into another direction and Daryl continued forwards towards the grounds.

"So…"Daisy tried but Daryl didn't even acknowledge her. She snorted, "You always like this?" She asked as they passed Glenn and a short brunette haired woman who laughed.

"He comes around eventually. I'm Maggie, Glenn's Wife." She said with a thick accent as they shook hands.

"Daisy, was it something I said?" She laughed Daryl stood a few feet away glaring. Obviously he could hear everything they were saying but his mind was elsewhere.

"I'm glad to see you out and about—"

"We got shit to do," Daryl growled interrupting Glenn before walking off.

"Sorry," Daisy apologized before jogging to catch up, if there was ever a textbook definition of a redneck Daryl might have taken the cake with his crossbow slung over his shoulder and his I-don't-give-a-fuck saunter.

Once they reached the outdoors Daryl turned to her, "Three questions." He reminded.

"What happens if I don't get these questions right?" She asked tentatively.

Daryl smirked, "Then we take you out back."

Daisy gulped, "You're gonna Ole Yeller me?"

Even in the distraught state he was in her couldn't help but snort, Daisy had that knack about her. She could get most people to like her by just saying what she thought out loud. It was a gift, but most people who she didn't like couldn't seem to get the hint, a gift and a curse. "Nah it ain't the right 'r wrong kinda questions."

"Alright, well shoot." She paused, "Not literally Travis."

Daryl cocked an eyebrow, "Who's Travis?"

Daisy looked at him in shock, "The kid who had to shoot Ole Yeller?" "Oh," Daryl muttered before turning and walking a few more feet and sitting on a ledge. Daisy followed suite and took a seat on the ledge as well.

"So the first question: How many walkers have you killed?"

Daisy didn't have to hesitate, "A lot? I mean I haven't kept count, its not really something I'm proud of its just surviving its been two years…" Daryl nodded he understood where she was coming from he definitely didn't have a count of his kills either.

"How many people 'ave you killed?" He asked next.

Daisy thought long and hard , "two…no three"

"Why?"

"The first two were bit, they asked me to do it…I shot 'em" she said pointing to her head sadly.

"An' the las—" Before he could finish his sentence there was an explosion that caused them both to hit the ground.

"What the fuck was that?!" She screamed covering her head.

"Dunno, let's find out." He yelled as they ran towards the explosion.

"Woah wait!" Daisy stopped.

"What!" Daryl snapped.

"I'm not going anywhere without a weapon!" Daryl sighed and reached behind his back pulling out a handgun.

"Fine but don't try anything funny." He said making sure the safety was on before he handed it to her.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna Ole Yeller you," She answered running after him towards the other side of the prison. A guard tower was on flames and they could clearly see a tank. "Seriously a fuckin' tank? Where do you guys come up with this shit?" She yelled as they ducked behind a gate with a teenage boy. Aiming their weapons clear at the intruders.

"We gotta do something," The boy spoke. Daisy took the boys features in, he looked a lot like Rick. Down near the tank she could see Rick talking to the Calvary.

"You're dad's got it." Daryl grumbled. Dad! It all made sense now, this must be Rick's son.

"They're talking!" The boy said stubbornly. "We could kill the governor right now."

'The governor?' Daisy thought curiously as she squinted to make out the face of the man standing talking to Rick. Sudden realization struck her and she gasped.

"Wha?" Daryl hissed beside her.

"They've got Hershel!" She exclaimed motioning to the older man kneeling on the ground with a sword to his throat.

"Yeah, and Michonne." The boy added. He cocked his gun, "I could end this right now."

"From 50 yards?" Daryl challenged.

"I'm a good shot." The boy answered.

"Or you could start somethin' else…" Daryl mumbled. It all happened so quickly suddenly Hershel's head lay on the ground next to his body and Daryl screamed in anger before the whole prison rang out in gunfire and hatred.

'What the actual fuck did I get myself into!?' Daisy thought trying to sneak away.

"Hey I'm watchin you girl, you stay by my side!" Daryl snapped.

Daisy looked at him in calculation before returning behind the gate and helping them shoot. The fight became mobile when the intruders starting moving in.

"I'm outta ammo!" Daisy screamed in frustration.

Daryl snarled and pulled something round out of his pocket throwing it towards some of the shooters.

"Grenade!" They shouted and attempted to duck out of the way.

"Where did you get that?!" Daisy shouted in disbelief as she caught the clip Daryl tossed to her.

"Follow me, get to the bu—" he froze as Daisy pointed a gun at his face, "What the—"

BANG!

There was the sound of a body dropping and Daryl turned behind him to see a walker shot square in the head, "Thanks," he muttered before grabbing her arm and running towards a gray school bus. They stopped suddenly when a frantic looking blonde seemed to be running around in circles. They watched as the bus sped off without them.

She turned to see Daryl, "I was trying to find the kids to get them on the bus!" She panicked.

"We gotta go, Beth. We gotta go. Come on!" He ordered crossbow at the ready. He shot down any walker in their path and they ran for their lives into the woods…into the wild.

It was dark when the three finally stopped running. Beth, the blonde, suddenly burst into hysteric tears. To be honest Daisy felt a little like crying too, enough was never enough in this world. Once you escaped the frying pan there was no place to go but the fire…but what happened after that? Daryl was gathering wood clearly keeping his distance from the weeping girl. Daisy decided it was the right thing to do to give her space and followed his lead.

"Hershel was her dad," He mumbled quietly to her.

"Damn…"Daisy whispered taking a quick glance at the girls direction. She was beginning to calm herself down as the two adults built a fire. They sat in silence just absorbing the events of the day. Daryl thought it was better that Carol got out when she did, she may not have survived the fight if she hadn't. Now he was stuck with these two girls, Beth who wasn't too skilled with a weapon and Daisy who he knew nothing about. She did save his life today though, he mused. With his arms resting on his knees and his head bowed he peaked through his long shaggy hair at the girl in question. She was pretty, real pretty, but Daryl tried to stifle any thoughts like that. He didn't need distractions…speaking of distrations…he noticed her long tan legs and his eyes followed them from the hem of her shorts to the lip of her boots.

"Damn," he muttered.

"What?" Daisy asked popping her head up curiously.

Daryl cursed in his mind he hadn't realized that he had said that out loud. "I—um—damn you're almost outta bullets and you ain't got no weapon…" Daryl stuttered out 'Nice save,' he thought.

"I know," Daisy replied looking back down at the small pathetic fire.

Daryl sighed and reached into his boot, "here."

She looked up to see him holding out a large machete hilt towards her like a gentleman and she raised her eyebrows, "Where were you hiding that?"

"Ma' pants," Daryl mumbled before coughing once he realized what he had said.

Daisy laughed," Alright there stud."

"'S not what I meant," he grumbled clearly embarrassed.

"I know," she replied patting his knee before she stood and stretched.

"We should do something!" Beth spoke up suddenly causing Daisy to jump. "We should do something. We aren't the only survivors. We can't be. Rick, Michonne, they could be out here. Maggie and Glenn could have made it out of A block. They could've. You're a tracker." She stated desperately looking at Daryl who had gone back to looking at the fire. "You can track. Come on. The sun will be up soon. If we head out now, we can—"

She stood and noticed that Daryl didn't follow, "Fine if you won't track, I will!" She began to walk, "Come on Daisy."

The new comer looked between Beth and Daryl unsure, that girl definitely was a fire cracker but she was young and distraught and Daisy couldn't let her go further into the woods on her own so she followed. She could hear Daryl sigh in defeat before he kicked out the fire and followed with his crossbow in hand. 


	3. Got 'eem

Daisy followed the two warily until the early hours in the morning when finally the sun began to peak out giving light to the world. She didn't know how to track but she did know how to survive and she had been doing a pretty good job of staying out of trouble until this month. Daryl's bandana swished back and forth from his back pocket imitating a tail. With the way he was tracking she wouldn't be surprised if he were an animal. She watched as his eyes scanned the ground with extreme focus until he abruptly veered off to the right and blew a few leaves and dust away from the spot he had singled out.

She and Beth gathered behind him curiously to see a small shoe print in the mud. "I could be Luke's...or Molly's. Who ever they are it means they're alive." Beth explained with a definitive nod.

Daryl shook his head, "No, this means they were alive four or five hours ago."

Daisy winced at how harsh Daryl was being and tried to reason with them, "it means they had a fighting chance, they might be okay."

Beth had a determined look on her face, "They're alive."

Daisy had to admire the teenager's blind faith while they followed Daryl to another track, "They picked up the pace right here. Got out in a hurry. Things went bad."

"Wouldn't kill you to have a little faith." Beth hissed following the tracks of their subject.

"Yeah, faith." Daryl chuckled darkly, "Faith ain't done shit for us. Sure as hell didn't do nothing for your father." He spat.

Beth seemed to ignore him but Daisy kicked his boot lightly to get his attention as she walked ahead a little further.

"Whaddya want?" He grumbled.

"What's wrong with you? She needs this." Daisy scolded in a hushed voice.

"Nah, what she needs is to survive, she'll be okay." He said dismissively before shrugging her off.

" _ **We'll**_ be okay, ya redneck." She muttered under her breath behind him.

"What did you say!?" He snapped as he turned around.

"I said we'll be okay I reckon," she lied.

Daryl narrowed his eyes in disbelief, clearly he had heard what she said, "What's some jersey bitch doin' sayin' I reckon. Don't y'all say things like totally and fer-sure?" He sneered at her as they continued on.

"Fer-sure," She agreed sarcastically making Daryl grumble at his failed attempt at an insult. "Hey how'd you know I was from Jersey and not here?"

Daryl snorted, "Well first off ya don't talk like us, ain't got an accent. Second…" He trailed off and pulled out her wallet with her drivers license in it, "Don't photograph well do ya?" He laughed.

"Hey! Gimme that back!" she snapped while snatching the wallet out of his hand.

"Why ya keep that on you anyways? Incase Rick pulls ya over for driving without a lisence?"

"Rick's a cop?" She asked shocked.

"Yeah, he's a good guy," Daryl nodded.

"Huh, makes sense…" she mumbled.

"So why ya got it on ya?" he repeated.

"Um, incase someone finds my body and cares to know who I am…" She trailed off, that sounded really depressing.

Daryl chewed his lip trying to lighten the mood a little bit againwhich wasn't something he normally cared to do. "I mean all they're gonna see is the terrible picture of some Jersey bitch named Daisy Marlow."

"Shut up! Its not THAT bad!" She growled with a laugh as they continued on.

"They'll be hungry when we find them," Beth figured as she picked some grapes off of the tree. Daisy followed suit gathering them in her shirt, Daryl grunted and bumped her shoulder to grab her attention before handing her his bandana and stalking off a little ways down the trail but still within earshot.

They heard him sigh, "What?" Daisy asked coming up behind him.

"That ain't walker blood…" He said.

"The trail keeps going!" Beth exclaimed hopefully, "They fought them off!"

"No, got walker tracks all up and down here. At least a dozen of 'em"

A twig snapped behind them and Daisy froze listening carefully when suddenly a snarling walker lunged at Beth. She screamed and hit the tree behind her trying with all her might to hold the creature at bay. Daryl sprinted into action and ripped the walker off of her but stumbled and lost his balance causing the walker to land on top of him snapping it's jaws hungrily.

"Oh no you don't you bastard!" Daisy spat venomously as she drove the machete Daryl gave to her into the top of its skull. The walked fell lifeless and Daryl shoved it off of him. "That was close."

"Yeah too close," Daryl agreed while wiping the leaves off of him.

"We should camp for the night I'm exhausted and thirsty," Daisy suggested brushing her bangs out of her face.

" Yea," Daryl grunted, "Here" He tossed her a bottle of water and she drank some gladly before handing it back to him.

"Thanks man."

"Don't mention it."

It was silent again, the sun had gone down and the air was a lot cooler now, which all three were grateful for. They were each in their heads again, thinking about better days, or ways to survive. Daisy noticed Beth absent mindedly picking a scab until it bled and continuing to pick at it.

"You okay?" She asked tentatively.

Beth's head shot up as well as Daryl's eyes now paying attention to their conversation. "Yeah why?"

"I mean about everything, y'know…" Daisy trailed off, "I mean I know I don't know you and all but I can only imagine."

"I don't cry any more, Daisy, if that's what ya mean…"

Daisy chewed her lip in thought, "It's not…but I mean everyone cries. Even me and I'm sure Daryl cries too when no one's looking." She sent a small smile his way but was met with a stone glare.

"I don't, there's no point. I'm tired of losing people." She yawned.

"Try and get some sleep." Daisy suggested, it wasn't long before Beth had fallen asleep and all that was left were she and Daryl. "So…"

'Sad attempt to make conversation Daze…' she thought.

"So…" Daryl replied however his face was pressed up against his arm as he hugged his knees so it came out muffled.

"What should we do tomorrow?"

"Dunno," Daryl answered, if you could call that an answer.

"Dunno," Daisy mocked earning another glare, "We need food and shelter, somewhere we can catch out breath for a day or two."

"I know."

"I'm sorry this all happened to you guys," She sighed, she was trying to pass an olive branch with him but he just was not budging.

"Not you're fault," his reply made her inwardly growl in frustration. The two fell silent again.

"I don't know how far we are from where you guys picked me up but I had a camp there we could grab my stuff…"

"No use," Daryl said finally lifting his head up, "Its too far we couldn't get there without a car it's an hour drive."

"It's something though, a destination."

Daryl was silent he glanced at Beth's sleeping form, "I don't think she's ready to leave yet, honestly."

Daisy smiled at him slightly, "I don't think you really are either."

"'Course I am, everyone's dead."

"You don't believe that, you want to believe it so you don't build yourself up to be let down. But if you really believed that you wouldn't be following Beth you would have left us."

"I ain't leavin' leavin her, she's too young." He grunted

"I call bullshit." Daryl glared at her before looking away. His position gave her a great few of his jaw line and muscles. Daryl was in no way short of gorgeous to her, even if she didn't know him there was no denying he definitely had the look. He was gruff and definitely a dominant man which Daisy liked as a dominant female. She didn't need the men in her life pussy footing around her, she needed them to tell her how it was. Although Daryl was hiding his real feelings about the situation, she just felt that was something they would never get passed, she sighed.

"What cha sighin about, girl?" He asked suddenly.

"I have a name, and I wasn't sighing I was just…deflating…" She countered.

"Deflatin?" He questioned confused.

"Yeah like a balloon," She elaborated.

Daryl snorted, "So yer sayin full of hot air? You said it not me." He added quickly after her glare.

"I'm full of hot something," She muttered not realizing once again she had steered the conversation into a no-no area. "Ah, man I'm sorry. I'm awkward I just don't really think before I speak." Daryl buried his face into his arms again hiding his smirk as he looked at her calculatingly. "What?" She asked.

"Nothin, yer funny." He stated finally. He was pretty sure he'd never told anyone his opinion on them since the apocalypse unless it was a negative opinion like how much of an ass they were. But Daisy stirred something in him from before the world went to shit. He had a feeling that if he had met her before the outbreak they would have been friends, drinkin' buddies maybe.

"I try," She winked at him.

"And ya got a smart mouth," He added.

"You ruined it, you ruined out friend moment." She stated mater-of-factly.

"I think ya did that on yer own when ya got cocky about me sayin you were funny." He challenged.

"I feel like you're about to say I'm funny lookin…" She laughed.

"Nah ya look pretty normal to me," He said, Daisy looked at him through the fire. "Like everyone else I mean. Dirty, gross, unkempt, and smelly."

Daisy shook her head with a smile at Daryl's trick, "Got 'eem." She mumbled with small laugh.

"Try an' sleep. I'll keep first watch." Daryl offered.

Daisy frowned, "I don't really sleep well unless I'm sick."

"How come?"

"Insomnia, used to have nightmares…"

"What kind of nightmares? Walker nightmares?"

Daisy blushed, "I wish… no they're really stupid. I used to have nightmares of my boyfriends cheating on me or like doing a complete 180 and hating me, pitying me, all sorts of bullshit. I didn't know I was so insecure, but when I'd wake up I wouldn't be rested and I really couldn't tell real life from the dream for a few hours."

Daryl looked at her taking in her story, he wasn't judging just listening, "Ya still get em?"

"No, not since all of this. I just tend to wake up a lot." She explained.

"Well try to get some sleep, if ya wake up I'll be here keepin an eye." Daryl informed. She couldn't help but smile but she agreed and rolled her hoodie that she had tied around her waist as a pillow before attempting to drift off. The way she laid down gave Daryl a clear view of her ass.

'Dang man,' he thought as he licked his lips like a wolf. In sudden realization of what he was doing he shook his head ,'Dang man…I suck, we really to find a place so I can rub one out in privacy and get rid'a these thoughts….'


	4. Useful Stuff

In the early morning when they had all taken their shifts of watch and were somewhat rested they decided it was time to set out and be productive. They were hungry and uncomfortable.

"So what're you good for?" Daryl asked.

"A lot?" Daisy questioned not sure what Daryl meant.

"He means what are you good at. Shooting, cooking, hunting, building things?" Beth elaborated for the poor gruff man of few words.

"I'm good at finding things and repurposing them. I'm not the worlds best marksman but I can shoot, I have to be able to shoot." Daryl nodded in agreement with her.

"If you don't mind me asking, what did you do before all of this?" Beth asked meekly.

Daisy instantly looked at the ground, "It doesn't really matter right? I mean live in the now is what I always say!" She exclaimed before jumping up, "Alright," she clapped her hands with gusto, "I'm gonna scavenge I saw a run down shed about 10 minutes before we decided to camp here for the night so I should be pretty safe. You guys can come with me but if not I'll be close enough for you to hear me if anything comes up."

Daryl lit a cigarette and took a long drag, "Nah, I know where you're talking about you probably won't find much—"

"But anything is something when you've got nothing." Daisy interjected.

Beth smiled, "She's right we've got nothing right now."

"Beth you can go with her but I'm gonna hunt, I doubt y'all will anything to eat in that dump so…" He trailed off.

"Alright, will you holler if you run into trouble you can't handle on your own?" Beth asked.

"There ain't nothing I can't take down," Daryl huffed. Daisy rolled her eyes and cleared her throat expectantly, "Yeah I'll holler." He finally agreed causing the two girls to smile before they split up.

"Come on Beth it's just down this way," Daisy said she pushed some branches out of their way in the distance they could make out the shed and they jogged up to hit to avoid dawdling in one place for too long.

"There's some junk out here we could use," Beth exclaimed when she spotted a rope and some hubcaps from tires.

"Snatch 'em, I'm going in," Daisy whispered over her shoulder from the doorway of the shed. She banged on the rotted wood loudly hoping to stir anything that was inside but nothing moved or made a sound so she assumed it was safe to enter. Inside was a mess but she knew it was bound to be a gold mine and she quickly decided she was right about the place being useful. Daisy shifted a few items on a shelf and found piece of plastic wrap that was used to cover food and grabbed it, she had nothing to hold her haul in so she pocketed it for the moment before she found a plastic bag filled with trash. She untied it and turned it upside down dumping the trash on the floor, quickly she picked up an empty can. After about twenty minutes her plastic bag was filled with the bits of plastic wrap she could find, four empty cans, a long thin clear tube that was used for an aquarium filter, an old shirt, she had filled a couple of plastic bottles with some dirty water that was in a puddle, and a small pot. Daisy emerged from the run down shack with a full plastic bag.

"What did you find?" Beth asked curiously eying the bag as they walked back to their camp.

Daisy shrugged, "useful stuff…" she laughed after Beth looked dejected, "You'll see, jeeze chill Beth." She slapped her on the shoulder dismissively. When they arrived back at the fire they were greeted by Daryl's back.

"Shh!" he hissed at them causing the two to stop in their tracks. Daisy regarded him warily as she watched him stalk a snake through the grass. He lunged using a stick to trap its head before he brought his knife down and ended its life. He turned around, "Foods up."

Daisy inwardly cringed at the thought of eating snake but the way things were now made her grateful for anything she could get. She pushed past the idea of eating a snake and forced a smile Daryl's way although he seemed to notice her distaste. He looked away at the ground and she could have sworn she noticed his cheeks heat up a bit. They sat down around where the fire from the night before had been the night before. Beth gathered some wood into a pile and began work on a fire while Daryl skinned the large snake.

Daisy on the other hand began to dig a hole with her hands. Daryl was looking down at the snake but peaked at her through his eyelashes every now and then curious as to what she was doing. He moved so quickly she didn't notice him and he snatched the plastic bag and dumped the contents out.

"What the fuck is this shit?" He asked taking in the assorted trash now laying on the earth.

"Useful stuff!" She repeated from earlier.

"No seriously what the fuck are you going to do with this shit?" He snapped, he didn't know her and it seemed like she had just wasted their time and put Beth in danger just to grab garbage.

"Its for water you dickhead!" She retorted hotly, "There's no water source near by so this is what you fucking do if you don't want to die, see fuckin' watch!" She had finished digging her hole and she placed one of the cans in the hole and used her machete to cut the long aquarium hose putting it in the can and leading it out of the hole. Beth and Daryl watched her closely as she placed one of the bits of plastic wrap over the hole and can but allowed the hose to peak through. Then she weighed the plastic down with rocks and placed a small one in the center. "It's hot here so the sun will draw the moisture from the soil but the plastic wrap with cut the water cycle short. So basically I created my own little biome underneath this thing. I put the rock here so that when the starts doing its magic and condensation collects on the plastic the water droplets will be guided to the center and they'll fall into the can. We don't have to disturb it because the tube acts like a straw…ya dig?" She snipped at Daryl for not having faith.

He grunted and returned his attention to the snake. He wasn't going to admit it but what she did was really smart, he'd never thought of that. Daryl felt a little bad for snapping at her but he was still curious, "what's the rest of this garbage for?"

"Damn dude, have you ever heard the saying 'One man's trash is another man's treasure?'" She asked in exasperation.

"No," Daryl said bluntly.

Daisy's eyes widened, "Really?!" Daryl swallowed hard and shrugged.

"It's just a saying, its not a big deal," Beth interjected she could tell something was bothering Daryl. She didn't think that Daisy meant anything by it but she was putting him down and Beth felt that she needed to stand up for him.

Daisy shook her head, she caught on to the edge of Beth's tone and sighed, "I'll tell you what, you help me make it and I'll tell you what it is when it's done."

Daryl frowned, "Nah, someone's gotta clean this snake."

"It can wait for this second thing, I need to dig two more hole for your cans anyways." Daisy explained, "Come on it'll be fun!" She pleaded.

"Fine if ya promise you'll shut up 'bout it…" he agreed, Daisy smiled and it was contagious. After he was done skinning the snake he cut it up into the three pieces and handed them to Beth to roast on the fire she had made. "So what'da we do?" he asked trying to mask his curiosity.

"Grab that empty coffee can and heat your knife up in the fire," she ordered, Daryl obliged, "poke a couple small holes in the bottom while I grab the rest of the stuff we need." He began to melt a hole in the can and once his knife cooled down he repeated the heating process. Daisy gathered the old shirt she found along with the bottles. "Alright," she began as she ripped the shirt into pieces with the help of the machete Daryl gave her, " fill the can with alternating layers. Start with fabric then sand, then fabric, then rocks, fabric, then sand…and so on…until the can is full." Daryl followed her instructions even more curious now then he was before.

"I don't get it," Beth said basically stealing the words right out of Daryl's mouth.

"You will, be patient." Daisy snickered.

"I not good with patience," Daryl grunted.

"Bullshit you're a hunter, you're great with patience." Daisy pointed out.

Daryl huffed, she had him on that one, "Fuck you."

She laughed, "Okay now put one more layer of fabric on top and let's let the magic begin…shall we?"

Daryl watched as she poured the dirty water into the can but nothing came out, "Da fuck?" Daryl asked.

"Paaaattttieennnccceeee," she hissed out in response causing Daryl to roll his eyes.

After a few seconds he got frustrated, "Bitch, ain't nothing happening."

"Don't call me a bitch you fuckhead!" She retorted throwing an empty bottle at his head with a thud. Right has Daryl was about to chuck the bottle back at her she jumped, "Watchwatchwatchwatch WATCH!" she squeeled in excitement as the water trickles through the holes and into the pot. Instead of dirty cloudy water it was crystal clear Beth gasped.

"Wow!" She exclaimed.

"We should still boil it just incase there's any harmful bacteria in it," Daisy suggested and Daryl conferred with a nod. "Come on, tell me that wasn't cool!" She baited him with an elbow nudge.

He smirked, "I ain't sayin it was cool, but it was useful." That was as close of an apology but it was perfect for Daisy and she smiled at him.

They sat around the fire and ate their snake jerky while the water boiled. "What did you do before all this?" Beth asked Daisy curiously.

She choked mid bite and looked at the ground, "Oh you know…stuff."

Daryl cocked an eyebrow, "What were you a stripper or something?"

Daisy glared at him, "No, what did you do before all this?" She snapped.

It was Daryl's turn to look at the ground, "Stuff…"

"Exactly." She stated ending the conversation they sat in uncomfortable silence curious of what the others did before the outbreak.

"I need a drink!" Beth said suddenly breaking the silence Daisy pointed at the water in the can.

"Sip up, girl." She said as she continued munching.

"No, I mean a real drink. As in alcohol. I've never had one. 'Cause of my dad. But he's not exactly around anymore, so..." she trailed off but when neither answered and Daisy looked at Daryl she continued, "I thought we could go find some." Daryl stayed silent like he couldn't even hear her, "Okay. Well enjoy your snake jerky, jerk." She stood and Daisy sighed quickly collecting the water back into the bottles tossing them in the bag and looked at her retreating back.

"That girl just wanders," she mumbled.

"She's bein stupid," Daryl said as he kicked out the fire.

"She's been through a lot," She reasoned as they followed her into the woods.

"We've all been through a lot," he said.

"yeah…" they walked in silence after that until Beth spoke.

"I think we need to go that way to find the booze." Daryl took the lead without saying a word and soon they found themselves back at the camp. "What the hell? You brought me back! I'm not staying in this suck-ass camp!" She stomped her foot and began to walk off but Daryl grabbed her arm. "Hey!"

"You've had your fun," Daryl snapped.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Do you feel anything? Yeah, you think everything's screwed. I guess that's a feeling. So you want to spend the rest of our lives staring into a fire and eating mud snakes? Screw that. We might as well do something. I can take care of myself and I'm gonna get a damn drink." She stormed off and the two followed closely behind her.

Daisy groaned to herself, "She's not normally like this." Daryl said from behind her.

"It's alright," She said flatly as she dragged her feet.

"S'not." He disagreed.

"It has to be," she countered as they reached a clearing and a golf course.

"Golfers like to booze it up right?" Beth asked innocently.

Daisy snorted, "Booze it up? Where did you grow up!"

"Georgia," Beth stated as the neared the course.

"Do you guys really talk like that down there?" She asked Daryl who shook his head but stayed silent.

"Come on!" Beth urged but Daryl put his arm out and stopped them.

"Might be people inside."

Daisy froze when a hand grabbed her shoulder and ripped her back with a snarl. "Oh shit!" she managed to squeak out before she was thrown to the ground.

UH-OH ZOMB ATTACK! Let's see what happens kiddies! Thanks for reading forget to review I'd love to hear what you guys think! So the plan is to stick as close to the tv storyline as possible so be patient because the DARYL/DAISY stuff is gonna start speeding up in the next two chapters GET PUMPED!—hellooctopi 3


	5. Moonshine

Daisy's back hit the ground with a loud smack and she bit back a scream of pain. She had to act quick she flipped the two over but before she could grab her knife something whizzed past her ear and hit it's target with a sickening squish. Daryl had shot a bolt right through the walkers head over her shoulder.

She looked up at him gratefully, "Thanks." She said as he offered his hand and pulled her up off the corpse. She dusted her self off and touched her back with a wince, "We should get inside and clear the place out now."

"Yeah," Beth said as she regarded Daisy with worry, the two had seen her wince when she touched her back and the smack they heard when she hit the ground was not good.

"You alrigh'?" Daryl asked gruffly.

"Yeah peach-tastic," She lied.

Daryl inwardly shook his head, there wasn't room to lie about injuries anymore. "Fine then lead the way," he said gesturing infront of them with a sweep of his arm.

Just as he expected she took the bait and he was able to take a look at her back. What he didn't expect was to see her shirt soaked in blood. He and Beth exchanged looks before he glanced behind them to see that she had fallen flat on a glass bottle which now lay shattered on the ground. 'Damn' he thought.

The two stayed silent about her injury for now as they followed her struggling form to the front doors. Daisy pressed down on the release button for the doors but they didn't budge.

She turned around and winked at Daryl, "This is how you're supposed to react to a locked door, pal." She snorted and walked away from it. Daryl grunted in response annoyed that she was poking fun at him but more worried about the blood on her back. He glanced off into the distance noting the small heard coming their way.

"Come on we gotta get inside," He nodded over to the walkers and took the lead to the back door of the country club. He tried it and the door clicked, inwardly he breathed out a sigh of relief and let Daisy and Beth in before himself shutting it as quietly as he could.

Daisy looked around the room, the country club had once served as a refugee camp but something went wrong. Dead bodies laid everywhere on top of cots and the sound of moans and snarls came from above. Daryl picked up a flashlight and shone it at the ceiling in front of Daisy.

"Back up," he grunted. She looked up jumped back when she spotted three walkers hanging from the ceiling. Clearly they had hung themselves when they were alive but didn't know that everyone was infected.

"Aw sheeeiit…" Daisy mewled as she reached behind her and picked up a golf club and winced at the pain. "Cut 'em down." She asked Beth.

One of Daryl's bolts flew past her ear again and nailed on in the head, "Nah this is safer." He muttered.

"Do you gotta shoot that thing so close to my ear!?" Daisy snapped brandishing the golf club at him.

He couldn't help but snicker, "Keeps ya alert."

"Oh I'll show you alert!" she rounded on him with the club Daryl grabbed one to and started aiming to hit her as they circled each other.

"Guys stop fighting," Beth pleaded.

Daisy turned around and smiled at her, "I'm not being serious Beth!"

Daryl let out a chuckle, "I was. I wan gonna kick yer ass with this thing."

Daisy glared at him and whacked him in the back of the leg expectantly. "What bitch!" She taunted throwing her hands and her club in the air.

Beth let out a nervous chuckle and examined a table. Daisy laughed and turned around she spotted a flashlight on a table and snatched it up. She wandered over to the cots and picked up a backpack covered in dried blood. 'It's something' she thought as she began to examine the area around the cots. These was a corpse leaning against the one in front of her who apparently had shot himself. The gun still gripped tightly in his hand. Daisy reached down and pried the gun out and checked for ammo. 'Lucky' she thought as the clip still contained four bullets. She emptied them into her palm and slipped them into her back pocket. Her eyes wondered underneath the bed when she gasped seeing a full box of ammo for the handgun.

"Wha?" Daryl asked from the other end of the room. He had found a bunch of jewelry and watches and started stuffing them into the bag.

"A full box of ammo!" Daisy exclaimed as she shoved the box inside of the backpack.

"Why are you keeping all that stuff?" Daisy heard Beth ask. She looked over and shook her head.

"That's stuffs not useful anymore," Daisy sighed.

Daryl looked down and stopped, "yeah I guess yer right…" He emptied the bag back on to the floor.

The door they had come through suddenly heaved and they heard loud moans and snarls coming from outside. The three picked up their things and ran down the hall, Daryl slammed the hall doors with one last nervous frightful look at where they had entered from. They trenched through a dark hallway with nothing but the flashlights to see. More snarling came from around the corner and they saw two walkers heading towards them.

"Move!" Daryl ordered and the turned around and headed in the other direction only to stop in their tracks when three more were coming from that side too. They ran straight further into the building and rounded a corner but Daryl stopped and turned around.

"What are you doing?!" Daisy shouted but Daryl ignored he aimed his crossbow at the door and pierced the first walker through the skull, he body checked the next through the door and drove his knife into its eye. He gripped the golf club from earlier and swung it at the third to stumble through the door, kicked the next one back, stabbed the last in the eye and went back to the one he kicked. He began assaulting the walkers head violently with the club, each swing getting harder and harder until some of it splattered on Beth.

She looked down at her once new clean white cardigan in disgust and looked back up at Daryl like he was a monster before removing it and walking further down the corridor.

Daisy walked up to him and pulled him off of the walker roughly, "What the hell was that?" she hissed at him

Daryl shrugged, "Survin'"

"No, that was terrifying. Watch it." She warned as they followed Beth. They rounded the corner and Beth breathed out a sigh of relief, the bar of the country club came into few.

"We made it." She said pleased. She turned around and fixed Daryl with a look, "We made it. I know you think this is stupid. And it probably is. But I don't care. All I wanted to do today was lay down and cry, but we don't get to do that. So beat up on walkers if that makes you feel better. I need to do this. "

She turned on her heel and stormed off towards the bar. Daryl's mouth was agape in shock. "I don't know what's got your panties in a bunch Daryl but you need to chill." Daisy whispered to him, "This may seem stupid to us but its clearly important to her so let's just go with it."

Daryl glared at the brunette how could she possibly 'go with' this. Beth was being reckless and putting them all in danger, and Hershel was a good friend of Daryl's he would have wanted Daryl to protect his little girl not help get her drunk.

Daisy sighed and turned around and began walking to the bar when the sudden sound of glass breaking made her stop and snap back to see Daryl dusting glass off of a road map.

"Did you have to break the glass?" She asked with a roll of her eyes.

"No," he admitted, the two met Beth next to the bar. "You have your drink yet?" Daryl asked with annoyance.

"No…" Beth said but she lift up a bottle.

"What did you find?" Daisy asked.

"Peach Schnapps. Is it good?" Beth turned and looked at Daisy hopefully.

"No." Daryl grumbled.

"Well, it's the only thing left." She reasoned with a shrug. Daryl wandered off and started playing with the dartboard. Daisy on the other hand tried to be nice a looked for a cup for them.

She picked up a number of glasses and tried to wipe them clean but they were caked and smeared with blood. "Who needs a glass…" Beth said with defeat as she moved to pick up the bottle.

Daryl's darts thunk'd in the background as he threw them at a picture frame of the clubs donors. Beth turned the bottle over in her hand and twisted the lid off. When she placed the lid on the counter her whole demeanor changed and she suddenly began crying. Catching the moody man's attention. He growled and stomped over to them grabbing the bottle out of her hands and smashing it on the ground with anger.

"Ain't gonna have your first drink be no damned peach schnapps! Come on." He ordered.

They trudged through the dense woods again and Beth spoke, "A motorcycle mechanic!"

"Huh?" Daryl grunted.

"That's my guess for what you were doing before the turn." She paused, "And Daisy you were…a college student working as a waitress to get herself by!"

Daisy laughed, "Sorry, never went to college."

Daryl looked at Daisy surprised he definitely thought she would have gone to school. But it didn't matter she was probably living off of someone's money then.

"It don't matter. Hasn't mattered for a long time." Daryl mumbled.

"I agree with Daryl actually," Daisy said after a pause. "Who cares what we did before, it's not like even if things were ever to go back to normal we could pick up where we left off. It's gonna take a couple years to rebuild."

"It's just something people talk about, you know, to feel normal…" Beth defended.

"Yeah, well, that never felt normal to me." He grumbled Daisy had to agree with him. She wasn't really proud of what she did and it wasn't useful at all and she definitely felt she was doing more in this new world then she could have ever done before the turn. Daryl pushed a few branches away and an log cabin in the middle of the woods came into view. "Found this place with Michonne."

"I was expecting a liquor store…" Beth mumbled as she took in the trashy look of the cabin.

"No, this is better," Daryl said as he lead the way into the house. He walked straight to the back closet like he knew exactly where to go.

Daisy kept watch at the window but she heard Beth's voice, "What's that?" She could hear clinking of glass and she turned her head.

"Moonshine," Daryl grinned lifting a case of mason jars filled to the brim with the clear spirit.

"Aw sweet!" Daisy laughed as she left her post at the window. Daryl set the case on the table and found two glasses he blew the dust out of them and poured a little bit of the moonshine into them placing one in front of Beth and the other in front of Daisy.

"Alright," Daryl clapped, "That's a real first drink right there!" Beth picked up the cup and examined the liquor with a worried face.

"What wrong?" Daisy asked picking the glass up and mirroring her.

Beth frowned and put the glass down, "Nothing. It's just…my dad always said bad moonshine could make ya go blind."

Daryl chewed on a toothpick he had found and grunted, "Ain't nothing worth seeing out there anyway."

"I," Daisy exclaimed dramatically, "Will drink to that compadres!" She lifted her glass and downed the shot Daryl poured and hissed. "Shit that's strong!" she winced at the burn but watched Beth with her one open eye as she sipped the moonshine as a test.

Beth coughed, "That's the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted!" She downed the rest of it quickly like Daisy had and giggled, "Second rounds better."

Beth snatched another cup and wiped the inside clean pouring some moonshine in the glass. "Slow down." Daryl chuckled.

"This one's for you!" Beth exclaimed holding it out to the pacing redneck.

"Nah, I'm good." Daryl said with a shake of his head.

"Why?"

"Someone's gotta keep watch," He replied pointedly directing his comment at Daisy who stuck her tongue out at him.

"It was one shot," Daisy reasoned.

"So what are you like our chaperone now?" Beth asked with a huff.

Daryl snorted at the thought of him being the responsible one, "just drink lots of water."

"Yes, Mr. Dixon." Beth mumbled as she took another sip of moonshine.

"Your last names Dixon?" Daisy piped up with excitement.

Daryl turned his head to her from the window, "Yeah, what's it to ya?"

"There used to be a guy in my troupe name Dixon," Daisy elaborated.

"You were in a troupe? So what ya military or something?" Daryl asked quickly realizing that Daisy had accidentally spilled something about her past.

Daisy coughed, "Um, no. Do I look military to you?" She laughed.

"Then what was your troupe for?" Beth questioned while pouring Daisy another glass.

"Nothing…just…forget I said anything," Daisy mumbled downing the bit that Beth had poured for her.

Daryl narrowed his eyes at her secrecy, "You slow down too, I don't need ya stumblin' all over da place."

"Yes, Mr. Dixon!" Daisy saluted with a laugh.

Daisy had a nice buzz going and she plopped herself on the floor while Beth explored the house. "Who would go into a store and walk out with this!" She laughed as she pulled out a plastic display bra filled with cigarette butts.

Daryl turned around and joined them in the living room, "My dad, that's who. Oh he's a dumbass! He'd set those on top of the tv set, use 'em as target practice."

Beth looked shocked, "He shot things inside your house?"

Daryl looked down at the sight of her judgmental eyes, "It was just a bunch of junk anyway. That's how I knew what this place was." He walked back over to the window and moved the curtain, "That shed out there, my dad had a place just like this." He pointed out into the yard and then joined them again kicking the lazy boy Daisy had now taken a seat on, "You got your Dumpster chair. That's for sitting in and your drawers all summer drinking. Got your fancy buckets. That's for spitting chaw in after your old lady tells you to stop smoking." He paused and picked up a newspaper opening it before he tossed it on the ground, "You got your internet."

A sudden growl at the window made all three of them jump, Daryl hurried over to the window and then breathed out a sigh of relief, "It's just one of 'em"

"Should we get it?" Daisy asked holding another generous shot that Beth had poured her.

Daryl shrugged, "If he keeps making too much noise, yeah."

"Well if we're gonna be trapped again we might as well make the best of it. Unless you're too busy chaperoning, Mr. Dixon."

Daryl peeked at Daisy's flushed cheeks slyly and snatched the glass out of Beth's hand, "Hell might as well make the best of it!" He plopped down in the other lazy boy across from Daisy and downed the glass with a sigh, "Home sweet home."

"I've got an idea!" Beth exclaimed suddenly.

"Yeah what's that?" Daisy asked leaning forward in her dumpster chair.

"Let's play a game, first I say something I've never done and if you have done it, you drink, and if you haven't, I drink. Then we switch."

"We call that Never have I Ever, where I'm from." Daisy said as she took a seat at the coffee table across from Beth.

Daryl regarded them warily, "You really don't know this game?" Beth asked.

"I ain't never needed a game ta get lit before…" Daryl said as he took a seat at the coffee table too.

"Wait are we starting?" Daisy asked confused as she lifted her glass to her mouth.

Daryl narrowed his eyes at the young blonde, "How do you know this game?"

"My friends played," When Daryl's glare didn't let up she continued, "I watched. Okay, I'll start I never shot a crossbow before. So now you drink."

Daryl took a sip from his glass, "Ain't much of a game…"

"It was just a warm up now you go."

Daryl thought for a moment, "I don't know…"

"Daryl just say the first thing that pops into your head, it doesn't have to be legendary." Daisy laughed.

Daryl chewed his lip he wasn't sure how many things he never experienced that he wanted to divulge with his companions but he decided to play along, "Never ben outta Georgia."

"Really? Okay good one, Daisy?" Beth asked.

"I've never…" Daisy thought, "Lived in one place for more than a year." She shrugged.

Daryl and Beth looked at her shocked and both took a sip, "Why's that?"

Daisy shrugged her shoulders with a nervous laughed and winked, "I was on the run from the cops."

"Seriously?" Beth asked.

"No! It's your turn Beth. Like damn, I should have said never have I ever asked so many freaking questions before!"

Beth blushed, "I've never…been drunk and done something I regretted." The two adults quickly drank without saying a word.

When Beth looked at them in question Daryl said, "I've done a lot of things."

"Your turn!" Beth said obviously a bit too excited that they were playing along with her game.

"I never been on vacation." Daryl grumbled.

"What about camping?" Beth asked quickly thinking she caught Daryl in a lie.

He shook his head, "No that's just something I had to learn to hunt."

"Your dad teach you?" Daisy asked

"Mm-Hmm." Daryl said taking a voluntary sip from his glass. He regretted mentioning his father to them and hoped they would drop it at that which Daisy did.

"I've never been on the ground for this long," Daisy said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Air force!" Daryl exclaimed before he took a sip.

"No." Daisy said bluntly, "I'm not military!" She paused, "Besides I thought you hated the guessing game?"

Daryl shrugged, "s'long as its not me I don't care."

Daisy rolled her eyes and waited for Beth to speak, "Okay…I've never been in jail. I mean, as a prisoner."

Daryl's face hardened an he scowled, "Is that what you think of me?"

'Uh-oh…' Daisy thought as she inched away from the table a bit. She could feel the anger radiating off of Daryl.

"I didn't mean anything serious. I just thought, you know, the drunk tank. Even my dad got locked up for that back in the day."

"Drink up." Daryl grunted when Daisy drank too Daryl looked at her, "Ya been in jail?"

"Indecent exposure, I thought I was at Mardi Gras…." She looked down at her glass and snorted uncomfortably, "I was not." Her admittance eased the tension in the room a bit but she could still tell that Daryl was angry.

"Wait. Prison Guard. Were you a prison guard before?" Beth tried.

"No." Daryl glared at her, he was tired of this game.

"It's your turn again…" Daisy informed Beth.

"I'm gonna take a piss." Daryl decided he stood and smashed his empty jar on the ground with a loud shatter.

"You have to be quiet!" Beth scolded.

Daryl turned around from his corner, "I can't hear ya. I'm taking a piss!" He shouted.

"Are you drunk?" Daisy exclaimed as she stood up in front of Beth.

"Daryl don't talk so loud," Beth pleaded.

"What are you my chaperone now?" He snapped, Daisy folded her arms across her chest and looked at him displeased.

"Stop lookin' at me like that." Daryl grunted, "Oh right! It's my turn right?!" He paused and sauntered over to them, "I never—never eaten frozen yogurt. Never had a pet pony, never got nothin' from Santa Claus. Never relied on anyone for protection before. Hell, I don't think I ever relied on anyone fer anythin'!"

"Daryl," Daisy warned taking a step forward still protecting Beth from his outburst.

"Never sung out in front of big group out in public like everything was fine. Like everything was a big game. I sure as hell never cut my wrists looking for attention!" He snapped finally.

Daisy looked at him appalled, "What the hell are you trying to accomplish here!"

Daryl ignored her," Sounds like our friend out there is trying to call to all his buddies."

"Daryl, just shut up!" Daisy shouted stepping in his way as he tried to round of Beth. She was worried, she didn't really know Daryl or Beth but Daryl was clearly scaring Beth.

"Hey you never shot a crossbow before? I'm gonna teach you right now. Come on it'll be funnn." Daryl drawled angrily as he snatched Beth's arm and drug her out of the house.

"We should stay inside. Daryl!" Daisy called after him following the two closely. "Daryl cut it out!" She shouted.

Daryl trenched over to the walker and shot him in the stomach he grabbed Beth and put the crossbow in her hands, "Come on get a little closer!"

"Daryl stop, don't make me—" Daryl pushed Daisy out of the way and she fell landing hard on a broken glass again. "Fucker that's it!" She shouted She picked up a handful of glass shards and threw them with calculation. Suddenly Daryl was pinned against the shed two pieces of glass pinning the top of his vest two more on the sides and two on his pant legs. The final shard of glass Daisy flung at the walkers head and it hunched over motionless.

"How the fuck—"Daryl started but Daisy punched him. Beth overwhelmed by the sight ran back into the house.

"What the fuck is your problem Daryl! You scared her!" She was seething she hadn't even realized that she pinned him down with the glass. Daryl's anger dissipated and he looked down at the ground he didn't know what to say. He had flipped because he was tired of people thinking that he was scum. "Seriously say something!"

"How'd you do that?" He asked finally.

"What?" she snapped turning on him again, "You're lucky I didn't fucking end you!" She ripped the glass out of the shed and freed him stalking off but Daryl grabbed her wrist.

"You're bleeding," He said as he examined her cut up palms.

"No shit and my back is still killing me so get your fucking panties out of a bunch and act like a man not a little boy having a temper tantrum!"

"Come on we gotta find something to clean that off with, I almost forgot about your back. You landed on a bottle we need to clean that too."

Daisy frowned, "Nice 180…" She grumbled referring to his mood swing.

Daryl blushed clearly, "Sorry…" He mumbled.

"Don't say that to me, say it to her." Daisy snapped still angry at the man in the leather vest. They reentered the house to find Beth sobbing on one of the chairs.

"Beth, it's okay. He just…got a little carried away." Daisy said.

"Beth I'm sorry," Daryl grumbled out clearly not liking apologies.

"I don't get it, why were you so mean?" She sobbed.

"I'm a dick when I get drunk, Y'all er lucky you guys are happy." Daryl mumbled embarrassed.

"I'm definitely not happy," Daisy snapped at Daryl still mad at his outburst.

"Here take a drink then," Daryl grumbled handing her his glass.

"Fuck you I will," She said tipping the glass and swallowing the liquid with one gulp.

"Come on, lemme help you with yer cuts." He said as he grabbed a new jar of moonshine and dishcloth and a sheet from the bedroom.

"I'm still mad," Daisy grumbled as the plopped her self on the carpet in front of Daryl who was sitting in the chair.

"Stopped carin'" Daryl grumbled but smiled sheepishly when he saw her glare. "Gimme yer hand." He said as he soaked the dishcloth with moonshine. "This is definitely gonna burn." He warned just as he began dabbing her cut.

"Ah! You suck!" Daisy shouted in pain.

"Just wait till yer back," He laughed at her face.

"Stop laughing it hurts!" She whimpered Daryl couldn't stop his chuckle as he pulled her arm to his mouth and blew lightly on the wounds. Daisy gasped at the sensation and met Daryl's cobalt blue eyes with her own jade green ones. Something had triggered in both of them but before either could dwell on the thought Beth's voice broke through.

"Is it bad?" Daryl's eyes snapped up and he cleared his throat.

"Mm no just needs to be cleaned," Daryl grumbled.

"I think I might take a nap, I'm getting tired." Beth mumbled with a yawn.

"Alright I'll wake ya up in a couple hours." Daryl reassured. Daryl turned his attention back to Daisy's hand and began ripping the bed sheet into a bandage. He wrapped both her hands up and then twirled his finger indicating for her to turn around.

"I'm not sure how comfortable I am with this…" She mumbled as she lifted up the back of her shirt exposing the cuts. Daryl fumbled as he could see the back clasp of her bra.

"Then why'd ya lift yer shirt up?" Daryl asked as he took the damp cloth as dabbed her cuts. He let his fingers "accidentally" graze her smooth tan skin and felt good bumps raise on his thighs. "Can I ask ya something?" He asked as he helped her pull her shirt down.

"Yeah?" Daisy asked turning to face him. He sipped the moonshine before handing it to the girl in front of him

"How'd you do that stuff back there?"

Daisy sipped the mason jar, "It's not a big deal."

"Bullshit you wacked a walker."

"I don't wanna talk about it Daryl." Daisy shrugged and stood up.

"I'll tell ya what I did before the turn," Daryl offer standing up and following her.

Daisy sighed, "Can I tell Beth?" she smiled mischeviously.

"Nah, secret for secret. You tell me I tell you and we promise not to tell anyone." He offered.

Daisy shifted uncomfortably, "I…um fine…My family owned a circus…"She looked up at him to see his face. It must have sounded so silly but he looked curious.

"Really?" Daryl asked, "I never been to a circus."

"Guess I gotta drink," She laughed taking a sip of the moonshine.

"So what'd ya do?"

"Threw knives, I did a bit of aerial silk." Daisy mumbled. She never went to a real school and most people who found out about her laughed and asked if she went to clown college.

"Why don't ya carry throwing knives?" Daryl asked.

"I couldn't find any and what good would they be?"

"So useful are ya kiddin me?" He looked at her in disbelief, "How easy was it for you to pin me and take out that walker?"

Daisy shrugged, "I don't know I didn't think."

"Exactly, we gotta find ya some good knives!" He exclaimed Daisy blushed.

"Thanks," She mumbled.

"Fer what?" Daryl asked as he pulled out a cigarette.

"I don't know for not asking if I went to clown college…" she laughed nervously.

"Did ya?" He asked.

"No it's a family business." She laughed pushing him, "So mister, what did you do?"

Daryl clearly blushed, "I don't wanna say…"

"Why?" Daisy asked stepping in front of him and forcing him to look at her.

"I didn't do nothin' I drifted, didn't really have a home. Took shit, stole shit, got high, followed my older brother around, and got hooked on pills…" He grumbled quickly. He got mad and threw the mason jar at the ground.

"Stupid," he growled, "Shoulda died a long time ago." He stormed out of the house and Daisy ran after him.

"Hey wait!" She called when he didn't stop she jogged up to him and tugged on his arm.

"What? Whaddya want? To tell me I'm a scum bag er a theif. Tell me ta leave?" He snapped.

Daisy blinked unaffected, "Are you done with your temper tantrum?"

Daryl muttered something unintelligible and relaxed a little in her grip. "None of that shit matters anymore, you saved my ass a couple times. So whatever you did before, what ever you had to do to survive its cool. That's a whole world away." She laughed, "You were a criminal and I was a clown." She winked at him, "Who cares?"

The corners of Daryl's lips turned up, "Aw c'mere big guy. Gimme a hug I think we just became best friends!" She laughed at his bashfulness it seemed no one had ever told him that its only human to make mistakes. He had done so much good to everyone he surrounded that it overshadowed his past. She pulled him close to her in a bear hug.

"Stop," he blushed.

"Why?" Daisy teased.

"Yer embarassin me…"he admitted.

"Thanks…" He added.

"For?" Daisy asked as she led them back into the house.

"Not being a bitch," He said.

Daisy snorted, "Oh sweetheart you ain't seen nothin' yet."

Daryl cleared his throat, "One more thing…"

"Yeah?"

"Back at the prison you were gonna tell me who else ya killed…"

"Oh…" Daisy frowned instantly, "I didn't really kill him but, my brother. We ran into some bad people about a month ago. They wanted to do things to me…bad things. My brother fought them off, they killed him and he turned and they set him after me." She swallowed hard, "I was running for hours from him until I finally got the courage and killed him."

Daryl looked at his shoes, "Sounds horrible…"

"It was," She mumbled.

"C'mon we should wake Beth up," He said after they fell into silence.

"Can I get a boagie?" She asked suddenly surprising Daryl.

"You smoke?" He asked reaching into his front pocket for his pack.

He handed Daisy a cigarette, "Right before the turn I brought it down to three packs a week. I haven't really smoked since then but I definitely need on right now."

"Well here, smoke away." He lit her cigarette for her and shuddered at the sight in front of him. He didn't want to feel creepy and he knew she wouldn't return the feeling but he found her extremely attractive. She made him laugh in the few days he had known her and she had even accepted him for the flaws of his past.

He cleared his throat trying to stop staring at her, "I'm gonna wake Beth up." He muttered before walking away.

"Alright…" Daisy said as she watched his retreating form.


	6. Pigs Feet

The three survivors found themselves seated on the roof of the abandoned house continuing to sip away at their moonshine with light chatter.

"I get why my dad stopped drinking," Beth spoke suddenly changing topics.

"Why?" Daryl asked.

"Do you feel sick?" Daisy asked flinching slightly back at the possible smell of vomit.

"Nope, I wish I could feel like this all the time!" Beth exclaimed while standing up at stretching quickly and then returning to her spot. "That's bad…"

"You're lucky you're a happy drunk." Daryl pointed out

Beth laughed, "Yeah I'm lucky, some people can be real jerks when they drink."

Daisy turned her head to the man seated next to her and let out a short sarcastic laugh, which earned her a glare and a light playful kick. "Yeah, I'm a dick when I'm drunk." Daryl admitted he paused and then continued, "Merle had this dealer, this janky white guy, a tweaker. One day we were over at his house watchin' TV. Wasn't even noon yet and we were all wasted, Merle was high. We were watching this show and Merle was talking all this dumb stuff about it and he wouldn't let up. Merle never could." He paused again smiling at the memory.

He took a sip and continued, "Turns out it was the tweaker's kids' favorite show and he never sees his kid so he felt guilty or something. So he punches Merle in the face, so I start hitting the tweaker, like hard." He laughed slightly while pretending to punch the tweaker. "As hard as I can, then he pulls out a gun and aims it right here." He pointed to the center of his forhead, "he says 'I'm gonna kill you bitch!' So Merle pulls his gun on him. Everyone's yelling, I'm yelling, I thought I was dead. Over a dumb cartoon about a talking dog." He laughed.

Daisy was hanging on every last one of his words like a child in story time, "So how'd you get out of it?" she asked.

Daryl laughed at her intrigue and simply said, "I puked."

Daisy and Beth made a face and Daryl laughed again, "They both started laughing and forgot all about it." He sighed and suddenly became solemn looking at Beth, "You wanna know who I was before all this? I was drifting around with Merle doing whatever he said we were gonna be doing for the day. I was nobody, nothing. Some redneck asshole and an even bigger asshole for a brother."

Beth sighed, "You miss him don't you? I miss Maggie. I miss her bossin' me around." She laughed, "I miss my big brother Shawn he was always so overprotective…and my dad. I thought—I hoped he'd live the rest of his life in peace, you know? I thought Maggie and Glenn would have a baby, and he'd get to be a grandpa. And we'd have birthdays, and holidays and summer picnics and he'd get real old. And it would happen, but it'd be quiet. It would be okay, he'd be surrounded by people he loved." She laughed facetiously, "That's how unbelievably stupid I am."

"That's how it's supposed to be," Daryl grunted.

"I wish I could just change," Beth said staring at the stars.

"You did," Daryl followed her gaze.

"Noy like you it's like you were made for how things are now." Beth admitted.

Daryl shook his head, "I'm just used to it…things bein ugly. Growing up in a place like this…"

"Well you got away from it," Beth reasoned.

"I didn't,"

"You did," Daisy agreed.

Daryl smiled slightly, " Maybe y'all gotta keep reminding me sometimes."

"No," Beth shook her head, "You can't depend on anybody for anything, right? Someday we'll be gone."

Daryl frowned, he hadn't liked where the conversation steered off into, "Stop."

"We will, you're gonna be the last man standing," Daryl looked down at the ground and Beth urged, "You are and you're gonna miss us so bad when we're gone Daryl Dixon."

Daisy coughed uncomfortably, "You're not a happy drunk at all!"

Daryl laughed in agreement but Beth shook her head, "Yeah, I'm happy. I'm just not blind. You gotta stay who you are no who you were. Places like this you have to put it away."

"What if you can't?" Daryl asked unsure.

"You have to or it kills you…" Beth said.

"You're friends sound like really great people," Daisy attempted to rejoin the conversation.

Daryl smiled, "They're more like family now, you would have loved 'em."

Beth smiled, "They would have loved you too."

"We'll find 'em guys. We'll find someone." Daisy coughed and snuffed out her third cigarette. "We should go inside."

"We should burn it down!" Beth exclaimed standing up with excitement.

Daryl cheered and Daisy laughed, "We're gonna need more booze." The three ran into the house and began destroy the inside of the dwelling. They smashed moonshine bottles on the floor and turned the whole house over.

"C'mon everybody out!" Daryl ordered and the three vacated the house with all their things in tow. "Y'all ready?" He asked as he light a rag that he put in the last moonshine jar and threw it at the house sending the whole thing aflame. Beth smiled triumphantly and threw her middle finger up at the burning massacre. Daryl looked at Daisy and she smiled back at him and they both raised their arms and mimicked Beth.

"Are we close?" Daisy asked, the sun had risen and after much annoyance from the two women Daryl had finally agreed to teach them how to track.

"Almost done," Daryl said as he hunched over her taking a look at the track.

"How do you know?" Beth asked also hunched over Daisy.

Daryl leant over Daisy's shoulder and brushed away a few leaves, "The signs are all there, ya just gotta know how to read 'em."

"What are we tracking?" Daisy asked looking up at him, Daryl hadn't realized how close he had been to her face until she turned around. He backed up abruptly.

He shrugged trying to play it cool, "You tell me, you're the one who wanted to learn."

Daisy sighed, "Well something came through here…" She moved a few more leaves around.

Daryl rolled his eyes in response, "Obviously."

"The pattern is all zig-zaggy…Oh! It's a walker!" She exclaimed finally in realization.

The corner of Daryl's mouth twitched in a small smile he was trying to repress and he reached his hand out to help her up. "Maybe it's a drunk," he lied.

Daisy smiled smugly and turned to Beth, "I'm getting good at this!" she turned to Daryl with the same smug grin, "Pretty soon I won't need you at all!"

Daryl laughed and pushed her arm slightly, "Yeah, keep on trackin."

A snap of a twig behind them caused all three to turn abruptly with weapons at the ready, "What was that?" Beth whispered.

"Keep an eye out," Daryl warned.

A snarl next to Daisy and Beth caused the two to gasp but Daisy reacted quickly she pushed Beth away and the blonde fell hard onto the ground but out of the walker's grasp. It was now headed with determination towards her, Daisy looked up and jumped grabbing the branch above her and with a grunt and a heave she lifted her body off the ground and brought her knees to her chest effectively keeping out of the walkers reach. Daryl then with the ease of a finger twitch shot a bolt clean through the walker's head.

Beth stood astonished at Daisy's quick reflexed and upper body strength," How'd you do that?" She stammered out. Daisy confident that she was out of danger relaxed and dropped to the ground flexing her torn palms.

Daisy blushed but she felt comfortable around the two now, with a pink face and a dopey grin she waved her hand in the air like she was showcasing something invisible, "I can move…Cirque de Daisy!"

"What?" Daryl asked confused.

"You know like Cirque de Sole—Never mind," Daisy shook her head with a slight laugh.

"You were part of a circus?" Beth asked shocked.

"Sure was," Daisy admitted.

"Wow, that's so cool what did you do?" Beth asked.

"I threw knives, performed on aerial silks, and did a bit of acrobatics." She paused and calculated Beth's amazement, "It's not that cool really, it's required for everyone in the troupe to know acrobatics and aerial silks is like acrobatics with training wheels so everyone knows that. My specialty were the knives."

Daryl remembered their talk from the night before, "We gotta find this girl some decent throwin' knives and she'll be savin our asses left an' right."

Beth laughed and turned to Daryl, "Can you teach me how to use you're cross bow?"

Daryl shrugged, "Sure, I guess." The two were expressing so much interest in Daryl and he wasn't used to it. He wasn't used to teaching or feeling like he was good enough to be looked up to. He removed the bow from around his shoulders and handed it to Beth who held it up as Daryl positioned her arms into the proper stance. The three continued on while Daisy tracked the walker from before. Daryl lifted up a few branches and the girls ducked under them an into a clearing seeing their target kneeling away from them chowing down on some poor fellow's flesh.

Beth gasped in realization, "It's got a gun." She continued to advance on it at the head of their pack but suddenly she fell to the ground with a small scream. She attempted to shoot the walker from where she was but only managed to lodge a bolt through it's neck.

"Watch her," Daryl ordered Daisy as he swooped the crossbow out of her hands and put an end to the walker's existence.

"Can you move it?" Daisy asked and she gently rotated Beth's ankle she had to remove a small bear trap from her leg and was highly skeptical of Beth's ability to continue on for the day.

"Yeah," Beth lied, she could move it but she knew she wouldn't be able to support herself for long.

"Alright then, let's go. There had to be a reason that trap was set…" Daryl thought out loud in a nervous grumble.

"Can we—Can we hold up a sec?" Beth asked after a few steps.

"You alright?" Daryl asked coming up to her.

"I just need to sit down." Beth said as she examined the puncture marks in her boot.

"Alright," Daryl sighed, "Hold up." He removed his crossbow and handed it to Daisy who gave him a confused look.

"Hop on," He said finally as he lowered himself a little in front of her.

"Are you serious?" Beth asked tentatively.

"Yeah," Daryl said, "It's a serious piggyback. Jump up." Daisy laughed at them Daryl seemed to have a way with kids.

"Yer heavier than you look," He may have put up this rough, tough, and intimidating air about him but he really was a big softie it seemed.

A funeral home surrounded by a graveyard came into view, "Maybe there are people there!" Beth exclaimed.

"Yeah, if there are I'll handle 'em…" Daryl grunted.

Beth laughed, "There are still good people out there, Daryl."

Daryl exchanged a quick glance with Daisy, "I don't think the good one's survived…"

They reached the exterior of the house and Daryl put Beth down on a bench in the front yard. "Stay here, we'll clear the house out," Daisy said to Beth, "Keep watch and scream if you need us." She added as she and Daryl walked up to the door. The man in question flung the door opened and banged hard followed by a whistle.

"Give it a minute," He said to Daisy who nodded although he wasn't looking at her, when nothing approached he nodded towards the inside signaling to move in.

"It's so clean," she remarked as they cleared each room.

"Yeah," he agreed, "someone's been tending to 'em…may still be around." He said sadly.

Once they had cleared the house Daryl noticed Daisy's distraction, "what is it?" he asked.

Daisy chewed on her lip with uncertainty, she wasn't sure Beth was going to make it and it was worrying her. This felt like a last hoorah if any for the girl. In truth she had been reckless and inconsiderate of hers and Daryl's safety although she was not going to admit it out loud. "Nothing," she finally croaked out with a fake smile as she willed herself to walk passed Daryl. He frowned and reached out taking a hold of her shoulder as she passed.

"Hold up a sec," He said.

"What's up?" She said shifting uncomfortably and feeling guilty for thinking that Beth was slowing them down.

"Yer worried about Beth," Daryl said, Daisy began to shake her head in protest but Daryl cut her off, "It wasn't a question, I know you are."

Daisy sighed, "Yeah…"

"She'll be okay, it'll do us all good to rest inside for a few days and this is as good a place as any." Daryl paused and then lowered his voice to a whisper, "You're not an asshole for thinking what you're thinking. Ya just can't act on it and leave her behind."

"How'd you—" She started.

"You think I'm not thinking of the best possible solutions to survive too?" He asked. He hadn't realized it but his hand was still gripping her shoulder and the two were standing extremely close. They locked eyes, blue against green and they froze.

"Let's bring her in it's getting dark." Daisy said with an uneasy cough trying to ignore the clench in her stomach when she stared into his eyes.

"Come on, Let's get that ankle wrapped," Daisy clapped her hands with feigned excitement.

Daryl regarded everything in the downstairs of the mortuary including the few dead bodies dressed in fancy clothes with full faces of makeup. "Looks like someone ran out of dolls to dress up."

Daisy snorted and Beth huffed, "It's beautiful, whoever did this cared….they wanted these people to get a funeral. They remembered these things were people before all this. They didn't let it change them in the end. Don't you think that's beautiful?"

Daryl cleared his throat uncomfortably Beth's ridiculous idea of beauty left him speechless. He clearly couldn't tell her she was nuts , "Look after Daisy finishes wrappin up yer ankle ya need to rest. There's a bedroom upstairs just relax and sleep okay?" Daryl said quickly changing the subject. Daisy looked up him quickly before finishing up Beth's ankle.

"Come on blondie I'll help you upstairs." She offered as the two hobbled up and out of the basement. When Daisy came back downstairs she found Daryl in the kitchen. "You find anything?" She asked but stopped abruptly when she found the shaggy haired man standing in front of an open cabinet stocked with food.

She looked at him to see his eyes wider than she had ever seen them, "Peanut butter, jelly, diet soda, and pigs feet! That's a white trash brunch right there."

Daisy laughed at him, "It all sounds good to me." She sat down at the table as he handed her items.

"Keep yer grubby paws off those pigs feet, they're mine."

Daisy laughed and leaned forward on the table, "They're yours!" After a few minutes of eating Daryl informed Daisy that he was going outside to set up some security system. Daisy with curiosity began digging through the kitchen drawers and picked up four steak knives. She set up the cutting board against the wall and began practicing by throwing the knives with precision into the board.

"I don't think you realize how cool that looks," Daryl said from behind her causing her to jump.

"You think I'm cool?" Daisy teased.

"Nah, I said what you're doing looks cool." He corrected as he took a seat next to her on the ground. "You should teach me."

"I can try," She shrugged she took his hand and placed the knife in it directing him how to throw it and showing him how she does it. The first couple of times not only did Daryl miss the target but he didn't lodge the knife anywhere and it just clattered on the floor with a loud bang.

"This is frustrating," He grunted attempting one more time.

"You know what they say about practice right?" Daisy said.

"It makes perfect, yeah I know." He sighed.

"I got cha somethin'" He said suddenly.

"What's that?" Daisy asked as she followed him into the living room. He reached down and picked something up from the coffee table.

"I found it outside when I was settin' up the cans." He informed her turning around and presenting her with five freshly picked Daisies.

She blushed hard and took them from his hands, "You know…like yer name?" He said bashfully causing himself to blush as well.

Daisy swallowed hard and looked up at him with pink cheeks, "No on'es ever given me a flower before…"

"Really even while you performed?" He asked suddenly forgetting his bashfulness.

Daisy frowned and shook her head, "I'm…I don't know…I just never got any."

Daryl cleared his throat and looked at anything but Daisy's eyes, "Well there you go…and stuff…"

She laughed, "Thanks pal." She bumped his shoulder playfully, "I'm gonna put these in water." She turned on her heal but changed her mind and walked back to Daryl.

"What's up—?" Daryl's question was cut short by the girls abrupt hug which caused him to blush hard. After a moment he wrapped his arms around the petite woman as well. Daisy couldn't help but notice how she fit perfectly into Daryl's arms in the hug, it was comfortable, she released him and beamed up him still holding the Daisies.

"Thanks…for the daises I mean. I thought I'd say it again." She said quickly before she hurried out of the room.


	7. I think the monsters caught us

DISCLAIMER: I STILL DON'T OWN THE WALKING DEAD ;P

DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW 3

Things between Daryl and Daisy were strained for the rest of the day to say the least. He hadn't made eye contact with her since he had given her the flowers and Daisy hadn't bother to either she was feeling extremely shy I couldn't quite grasp why Daryl had given them to her in the first place. Beth was beginning to worry that the two had a fight and as she played the piano she watched them from the corner of her eye.

Daisy was attempting to add some grip to the knives from the kitchen, they weren't much but they would have to do. In the basement she had found another crowbar and she found a snug spot for it on the outside of her bag for easy reach.

Daryl climbed into the coffin and Beth snorted, "What are you doing?"

Daryl shrugged, "This is the comfiest bed I've had in years, keep playin' girl."

"I'm gonna grab something to eat," Daisy said suddenly before standing and walking out of the room.

"What's wrong with you two?" Beth asked quietly as she continued to play.

"S'nothin wrong with me, maybe she feels sick er somethin'" Daryl suggested but then he felt a pang of sadness. Could him giving her flowers make her sick? Did the thought of him make her sick? He found himself getting angry at the idea he thought guys were supposed to give girls flowers. He thought they liked things like that, he growled in frustration. "Keep playin, I'll find out…"

Beth smiled at Daryl's retreating form he had to feel something for the other girl he would never have gone to find out why anyone was upset, he would have just let it pass. "Daryl, you're actin' like a silly boy." She laughed to herself quietly.

"What's a matter with you?" A gruff voice from the doorway startled Daisy.

"What?" She jumped.

"You're all weird, what's eatin' you?" He asked again taking a seat at the table with her and digging into a jar of pigs feet.

"Nothin' I wish that dog would have come in…" Daisy said changing the subject. Earlier in the day a dog had wandered onto the property but ran away before Daryl could coax him inside.

"S'not what's wrong with you…"Daryl mumbled.

"There's nothing wrong with me Daryl," Daisy huffed starting to get frustrated with him.

"Bullshit, you're actin' weird." He retorted.

"So what…you're like an expert on women's feelings now? I find that hard to believe." She muttered almost under her breath.

"Fuck you," He grumbled.

"Dick," she snapped back causing him to look up at her, when they met eyes the two began to laugh. "You're dumb Daryl, why'd you come here?"

Daryl shrugged and got quiet, "I don't know…thought it had something to with earlier."

"The dog?" Daisy asked pretending to not know what he was talking about.

"You know what I mean," He snapped. "If ya didn't like 'em ya coulda said somthin'…or was it because I gave 'em to you…"

Daisy looked at him, "Daryl it doesn't have anything to do with you!"

"Bullshit."

"Stop it. It's not you, I promise. Thank you for the flowers I love them…I just…" She trailed off.

"You just what?"

"I don't know…I don't why I'm feeling off. Just don't worry about it." She shrugged

"I am worried, we all have to be 100%" Daryl muttered still enjoying the pigs feet.

Daisy laughed sarcastically, "We'll never be 100% while we're on the run." Barking from outside caught their attention.

"I'm gonna give that mutt one more chance." Daryl said getting up abruptly and grabbing one of the pigs feet.

In an instant Daisy's heart froze she and Beth went running into the hall to answer Daryl's call. As Daisy rounded the corner she could see Daryl trying with all his might to slam the door shut on a heard of walkers.

"Daryl!" Daisy shouted as Beth threw him his crossbow.

"Run, get out of here! Both of you!" Daryl shouted.

"No, I'm not leaving you!" Beth cried.

Daisy didn't think, she reacted, "Beth go! Get somewhere safe outside and wait for us! GO!"

"What the hell are you doin' girl! I thought I told you guys to get out!" Daryl yelled over his shoulder as he shot another walker down.

"Beth's out it's just me!" Daisy said as she busted through the skull of a walker with her crowbar. "Move!" She ordered to Daryl who ducked as she shot the walker behind him in the head.

"We gotta get out of here!" Daryl said as he threw the door to the morgue open and tried to lead the walkers down there with him.

"What are you doing?! There's no way out there!" Daisy shouted after him in vein, "Oh my god you're a fucking idiot! Daryl!"

The sight she was greeted with when she ran down the stairs frightened her. Daryl was pushed into a corner using a mortuary table as a barrier between him and the walkers. He was struggling and Daisy thought as quickly as she could and bounded back up the stairs into the kitchen and she grabbed as many sharp objects as she could. Only seven knives were up there but she would have to make due.

"Daryl duck!" She warned before she even reached the bottom of the stairs. He crouched below the table instinctively still pushing with all his might. Daisy held her breath and blew out a steady stream of air concentrating on where she wanted her knife to sink. She drew her hand back and threw all seven of the knives with force. Before anyone could even blink she pulled out the handgun and crowbar and started shooting. One by one the walkers fell and the ones that got to close she demolished with the crowbar.

The room fell silent and Daryl pushed the table away and walked out, "Woah."

Daisy looked up from being hunched over hands on her knees, "You owe me big guy," She panted. A sudden scream caused both Daisy and Daryl to jump into action.

"Beth!" they both gasped out at the same time. Once they reached the outdoors a black hearse with a white cross on the back window zoomed away.

"Beth!" Daryl shouted.

"Stop! Wait! Beth!" Daisy called out, the two ran after the car even as it grew smaller in the distance. Finally it disappeared but the two kept running until they reached an intersection in the road.

"Daryl…" Daisy panted.

"No we keep going! We have to save her!" He exclaimed, "We have to." He said choking back a sob.

"Daryl I know, we have to but which way do we go?" She asked walking up to him and grabbed his shoulders. "Daryl breathe, can you track anything?"

Daryl tried to calm his hyperventilating, "Yer right…" He said after a few seconds. He looked down at the ground and Daisy looked around the area for any signs. "Fuck!" Daryl said throwing his bow on the grass with force. Daisy looked at him, "There's nothing! Nothin'! No fuckin' hope!"

"Daryl, stop! Stop it Daryl! You need to fucking breathe!"

"I am breathin' Daisy that's the problem, Beth might not be and I owe her dad that! He trusted me to protect her!" Daryl screamed.

"Stop Daryl, it's not helping." Daisy whispered.

"Fine." He said in a huff, "Can't do nothing about it anyway…" He sat on the ground in defeat. Daisy kneeled and touched his shoulder again.

"Daryl I'm not saying we stop looking, just gather yourself. We can do this." Daisy said but Daryl wouldn't meet her eyes he just looked at the ground. Daisy sighed and stood up taking another look around, this time she tried to remember the things Daryl taught her about tracking. Frustrated as she looked around and saw nothing still she turned to Daryl, "I'll be back I have to pee."

She ran out into the woods without waiting for an answer. After a few moments she began to make her way back to the road but she stopped in her tracks when she noticed Daryl surrounded by several men. She gasped and one of the men snapped towards her and she hid behind a tree.

"You pull that trigger, these boys are gonna drop you several times over…That what you want?" The large man with gray hair stated as he paced back n forth in front of Daryl. "Come on, fella, suicide is stupid. Why hurt yourself when you can hurt other people? Names Joe."

Daryl stayed silent for a minute and sent a fleeting look over to the direction Daisy stood. "Daryl." She heard him grunt.

She couldn't believe what she was seeing Daryl was leaving her behind just like that but as the group walked down the road she stepped out from the woods and Daryl turned around. Their eyes met and Daryl mouthed one word to her, 'Run.' He turned back around slowly and continued down the road.

"Sorry Daryl, there's no way I'm gonna run." She whispered to herself as she followed behind them at a distance.

She didn't really think things through but the group of men decided to spend the night in a house in a small suburb that night. She hung back carefully making sure that none of them noticed her. She was hungry and her stomach growled but she tried to ignore it keeping an ear out for walkers and her eyes on the windows looking for Daryl. She finally spotted him in one of the rooms on the second floor. She carefully tracked her best route up there and spotted a tree whose branches gave her enough room to jump to the roof. She smiled in victory and climbed the tree with ease, looking through the window she could see Daryl pacing he was in the room alone. Without hesitation she closed her eyes and took a leap of faith to the roof gripping onto the gutter and tiles as best she could trying to be quiet but the extra weight on the roof made a loud bang. Thankfully for Daisy, Daryl's window was the one that flung open and he stuck his head out to see her.

"What the hell are you doing girl?" He hissed at her.

"Daryl just keep your window open," She instructed as she shimmied herself on the edge of the roof until she was directly in front of his window. She began to swing back and forth but Daryl just reached out and gripped her waist, carrying her into the room.

"I told you to run," He whispered harshly.

"I couldn't just let you die," Daisy pleaded glancing at the door to make sure it was locked.

"I'm fine Daisy but there aren't good guys, if they find you I don't know what they'll do." Daryl whispered to her guiding them over to the bed and motioning for her to sit.

"Daryl, no we have to find Beth. We can handle them." Daisy said but suddenly the doorknob rattled and Daryl pushed her down onto the ground behind the bed facing away from the door.

"What do you want?" Daryl snapped.

"I thought I heard voices," Someone said from the hall.

"Then you must be fuckin' crazy, did you see anyone walk in her with me?" Daryl retorted.

The person mumbled something unintelligible and their heavy footprints continued down the hall. Daryl reached down and lent a hand to Daisy helping her back onto the bed, "They're bad people Daze…ya need to get as far away as possible."

"Daryl I'm not leaving you with bad people, you've got to be nuts." Daisy said tears welling up in her eyes. She paused and began sobbing after her stomach growled.

"Daisy, shh. Calm down." Daryl whispered rubbing her back. "Here eat this, drink this too." He handed her some beef jerky and a half full water bottle, which she accepted gratefully although continuing to sob.

"What am I going to do Daryl?" She whispered looking up at him her green eyes now rimmed with red.

"We'll figure something out Daisy…" Daryl said as he continued to rub her back. Crying women was definitely not Daryl Dixon's forte but he wanted to comfort her. Everything felt like it was falling apart. Beth was missing and Daryl had to stay with these people to stay alive. The only one who was still safe was Daisy, she was like a shadow to the men right now. As long as she stayed out of sight while they were around she'd be okay but if they saw her. Daryl shuddered at the thought and pulled back the covers.

"Come on Daisy you need to sleep…we both do." He said finally, it struck him as odd that he was one being nurturing at the moment but someone had to do it an Daisy was definitely not in the mind set.

Daisy nodded and crawled into the bed not bothering to take her shoes off incase she had to make a quick get away in the night. Daryl settled beside her, he felt the bed shake with her silent sobs and his heart broke. He didn't know what to do so he just reached and arm around her and pulled her to his chest.

"Daryl?" she whispered weakly.

"Yeah?" He asked just as softly.

"Please don't leave me alone, please don't make me go on by myself again." She sobbed.

"I won't Daisy, we'll get out together. I promise." He said to comfort her but his mind was spinning trying to figure out a way to keep her safe. Although nothing he thought of included him in the picture. He was scared for both of them but mostly for her and he tightened his grip around her waist giving her a small squeeze. Soon enough darkness fell upon them both as they drifted off into a well needed sleep.

DISCLAIMER: I STILL DON'T OWN THE WALKING DEAD ;P

DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW 3


	8. A promise doesn't mean a thing anymore

The next morning came with a startle for both of them. The sound of the bedroom door jiggling woke Daryl up and in his groggy state he hadn't realized how hard he shook Daisy to wake her. She rolled out of the bed with a thump and a curse before shooting up into a sitting position, realizing that one of the men we're behind the door.

'Get under!' Daryl mouthed as he too cursed and opened the bedroom door.

Daisy barely had enough time to get her feet under the bed when she felt the mattress sink under the weight of someone sitting.

"What the hell man?! I was sleeping!" Daryl grunted.

Who ever the man was, he spoke in a low voice, "I thought I heard a commotion in here, boy. What were you doing?"

Daisy placed her hand over her mouth to quiet her breathing and she heard Daryl reply, "Jus' sleepin' I thought you was a walker, forgot where I was…" He mumbled a lie.

There was a pause and the mattress lifted up again, indicating that the man had stood. Daisy heard a clap and a boisterous laugh, "Well come on then Daryl, we gotta get those walker jitters out of you."

Daisy rolled her eyes, Daryl attentiveness to the walkers was far from something that she'd call jitters. However, once she heard the door shut and Daryl breathe a sigh of relief she scooted herself out.

"I felt like my dad was about to catch me with a boy," She whispered with a nervous laugh.

Daryl's eyes narrowed at her, "It's way more serious than that, girl."

"Daisy," she corrected him but he ignored.

"I told you, you need to get out of here. It's not safe."

"Daryl where am I supposed to go?" She stood and pulled on her boots, "I'm not leaving you, and I'm not leaving Beth. We're gonna find her, we're gonna save her."

Daryl sighed again but this time in aggravation, "You need to stay away for the day, come back when the sun sets."

Daisy's mouth twitched into a small smile, "I can come back?" She asked as she followed Daryl to the window he had opened for her.

But Daryl didn't answer her he just helped her reach the tree and said, "Just don't get bit."

Daisy descent to the ground didn't take much stealth apparently the crowd of men who kidnapped Daryl were late risers. So she breathed a sigh of relief that she didn't have to dodge any of them on her way out.

The problem now was figuring out what to do with the day until she waited for the sun to set. The best thing she could so with her time would be to scavenge any areas near by. Daisy wondered the area around the small town for hours until she began to notice the sun setting. She was able to find a backpack to fill with a few canned foods and pasta boxes scattered on the flood of an old grocery store.

She turned down the street of where Daryl and the men were staying but to her dismay there were no lights inside the house. No glow of candles and the front door was left completely open. Taking a steady breath in she reached down simultaneously and pulled the machete that Daryl gifted her from her dark brown boot. The house was quiet, no shuffling, no moaning, but no talking either. Checking each room thoroughly she finally sighed in relief after she cleared the bottom floor. She then checked all the bedrooms until she finally reached the room Daryl had been staying in. All of his things were gone and Daisy felt panic began to set in.

He left her, alone. She started to pace the room trying to think of what her next move could be when the corner of a piece of paper sticking out from underneath the pillow. She climbed onto the bed and threw the pillow aside, examining the paper. Something was scribbled messily on the back of an envelope.

 _Daisy_

 _They're on the move. I don't know when you'll be back. I'll leave a trail… If not I WILL FIND YOU. Don't do anything stupid. Stay alive._

 _Daryl_

The corners of the brunette girl's mouth turned up into a big smile. Relieved that Daryl didn't leave her in the dust She flew down the stairs and out into the front yard looking for any sign of her companion.

Nothing seemed to stand out to her and Daisy began to feel frustrated. She turned her head left and right repeatedly before cursing. 'Think Daisy! Think! ...He wouldn't be obvious with the clues.' Daisy thought to herself. She turned around and faced the house noting that the front door was left wide open. They must have left through the front door she then looked at the street one more time. The streets trashcans and recycling bins were out in the street. That's when it struck her, every recycling bin was knocked over on the right side of the street, yellow trashcans littered the street but on the left side most of them remained upright. Daisy smiled, 'Daryl you clever, reckless bastard.' She thought wryly. She pictured the gruff man in her mind following the men and just tipping over the trashcans as if it were some sort of vandalism, like he was some kind of bad boy. She followed and soon enough she was lead into the woods. This was going to be much harder for her, she looked around and was pleasantly surprised to notice obvious gashes left on trees with a knife.

'Daryl, you're the best,' She thought as she followed his breadcrumbs into the woods with a flashlight lighting her path. It was about three hours before she rounded on the sound of a group of men.

"Joe I swear there're fresh tracks leading down this way towards the train tracks," A man said.

Daisy recognized the voice that answered to be the man that entered the room in the morning. "We'll follow 'em. Something tells me that we're closing in on those devils that killed Mark."

"Daryl!" He shouted, Daisy peaked through the trees trying to get a good look.

"Yeah," She heard him grunt.

"Lets put you to the test. A good hunter can track," The man named Joe propositioned.

Daisy could see Daryl nod, " I can track."

Joe clapped his hands, "Then it's settled, I need you to lead us to the people who made these tracks."

Daisy watched as Daryl knelt down and examined the ground. Her world ground to a halt when she heard rustling and branched crack behind her.

"Well, well, well…look what we 'ave here!" A man exclaimed. Daisy turned slowly knowing she was busted, the man staring back at her with a hungry grin disgusted her. With his half balding head and scraggly beard, his teeth were yellow and in a disarray. She pivoted and tried to run but he snatched wildly at her hair and pulled forcefully bringing her to the ground with a small scream. The commotion successfully gained the attention of the other men but her assailant twisted her arms behind her back and brought her into the light. Automatically their eyes met perfectly mirroring the other feelings, wide and fearful.

"Look at the pretty little thing I just found for us guys!" The man sneered next to her ear. Time slowed down for Daisy terrified of what was going to happened to her next, she could she Daryl swallow nervously.

His Adam's apple dipped and then rose before he narrowed his eyes and spoke, "Claimed."

All eyes turned to him, "Sorry, what?" the older gray haired man named Joe asked.

"You heard me, I claim her." Daryl said walking up to Daisy and snatching her arm, pulling her away from the nasty man.

"Daryl, son, that's not exactly how the claimed thing works," Joe explained as they noticed the angry looks shooting Daryl's way, "Calm down boys, this is the first time Daryl's even laid claims on anything." He paused and walked up to them, Joe lifted a lock of Daisy's hair and twirled it in his finger, "Hi there beautiful." He greeted.

"Now Daryl, we usually share the women we find. Gotta let all the boys have fun, you know." Joe explained Daisy looked back and forth between the two men, neither looking like they were going to back down. She had no idea why Daryl would "claim" her or why claiming her would even work.

Daryl's grip tightened on Daisy's arm ever so slightly, "I thought a claim's a claim. I like her, I want her."

Joe laughed, "He's a determined one isn't he." He addressed the group of men who encircled them, "Alright fine, I'll give it to you this time. I should have explained better." The men all burst into outrage, "BUT—" Joe continued, "If you don't make her yours by then end of tomorrow night, she's ours."

Daryl's eyes narrowed, when he spoke his voice was unwavering and confident but Daisy could feel him shaking, "She's mine." And with that he steered them away from the group while they all began arguing with Joe over his decision.

One Daryl and Daisy were out of earshot he let go of her arm and practically jumped in her face, "What the hell was that?" He hissed.

"I'm sorry I didn't think anyone would be that far out," She explained.

"You've got to be stupid, do you even know what I'm gonna have to do to you if we don't get away?!" He snapped.

Daisy looked away, "I have an idea, lets run now."

Daryl shook his head, "There's no way we'll out run them just yet. We need a plan, don't let them know that you know me. Put up a fight."

"Hit me." Daisy said turning to face Daryl completely.

Daryl coughed, "What?" and raised an eyebrow, "Are you nuts? I ain't gonna hit ya."

"Do it, tell them I tried to run. Tell them I wasn't giving you what you wanted. They'll believe it," Daisy explained, when Daryl didn't make a move she added, "Do it or I'll do it myself."

Daryl sighed and pulled back his fist and just as he was about to make contact with Daisy's face he opened his hand and slapped her. "I can't punch you!"

Daisy growled in aggravation, "Come one Daryl, you have to do it. You're saving my life."

Daryl looked at his feet, "I can't…I ain't like that."

"I'm not saying you are. I need you to do this for me."

He pulled his fist back one more time but before he even came close to her face a voice shouted out to them, "Come on you two love birds, we gotta get a move on."

The sun had completely set and the night was dark, Daisy assumed that they were following the tracks that she heard Joe and Daryl talking about earlier. Her hands with duct taped together behind her back and Daryl was forcefully shoving her forward every few feet. She could feel the eyes of them men practically staring through her clothes making her skin crawl. They were getting closer and closer to the origin of the tracks when suddenly Daryl gasped. Up ahead Daisy recognized the man that Joe had his knife to. It was Rick from the prison and his son.

And from that second things went from zero to sixty in two seconds. Daryl ran forward trying to pry the man who caught Daisy off of Carl only to be stopped by two men who beat him down.

Daisy couldn't stop the shrill scream of terror as she watched Daryl get beat down by the two men who were also joined by a third, " Daryl!" She shouted gaining the attention of another man.

"So he did know you, you stupid bitch. Come here you're mind first!" Daisy locked eyes with another woman whose sword was discarded next to her.

Daryl didn't give up, bloody and weak he flung himself at the men throwing his fists violently. That's when Rick stood and in one quick and calculated motion he bit through Joe's neck. Everything stood still, the struggling stopped and everyone watched and Joe recoiled in pain, blood spurting out uncontrollably. Rick reached into Joe's belt and pulled out his knife stabbing him through and through his chest.

That was their moment, Daisy decided, she flung her head back connecting harshly with the man holding her she turned around and threw her whole weight into the man knocking him to ground. Before she could react the cool silver steal of the sword she saw early sliced the man's head clean off. Daisy gasped for air as she looked up to see the other woman sword in her hand. Apparently having beheaded her captor as well.

Daryl on the other hand fought off the three men he was dealing with, knocking them unconscious. And the man who was hurting Carl was laying in a bloody heap next to Rick's feet. The terror was all too real for the five of them as they looked at each other, shaking from head to toe with adrenaline and covered in blood. None as much as Rick who seemed to be in shock, he sunk to his feet next to a broken down car. The woman took Carl into the car after saying a few words to Daryl and hugging him. Daryl rounded the car and kneeled down to hand Rick a rag to wipe his face.

"You can't see yourself right now, but trust me…clean up." He said before he stood and walked over to Daisy.

"Are you al—" Before he could finish his question Daisy threw her arms around his neck. "What was that for?" Daryl asked hands by his side not sure how to react. Things were spinning for everyone.

"I don't know, I just…" Daisy's whisper so close to his ears made his hair stand on end. "I needed to feel grounded." Daryl considered her words for a second before he wrapped his arms around her small waist.

"Are you alright?" He asked again.

Daisy laughed and pulled back from the hug slightly to look at him. Blood dripping from his face, eye swollen, lip busted, "Are you alright?"

Daryl chewed his lip, "I don't think so…"

Daisy rested her head on his shoulder, "Me neither…"

"We'll be okay though…" Daryl added.

"I don't…know, Daryl…." She replied muffled into his shoulder.

"We will, I promise." He whispered to her, his mouth touching her ear, head resting slightly on hers. This embrace was different from the any other he had shared with a girl. It was just a hug, he was satisfied feeling her warm body against his, feeling her breathe. Daryl liked being able to feel her being alive, when they came so close to dying only a few minutes prior.

"We're going to head to terminus, we're going to be okay..." Daryl mumbled.


	9. What's in the Box!

"Hey I'm Michonne, we didn't get to officially meet." The woman that was with Rick and Carl said extending a handshake to Daisy.

"It's nice to meet you, thanks for saving my life back there." Daisy said with a hollow smile. She hated killing living uninfected humans. Even if Joe and his crew were bad people, they were still _people_ and there weren't that many of them left in the world anyways.

After her quick introduction and 'you're welcome' Michonne shuffled up front to speak to Rick. Daryl hung back and talked to Carl about all of the things that had happened to them since the prison, he and th,jb e traumatized boy crawled up meet Daisy's step. Daryl continued to talk to Carl trying to keep his mind off of the recent events but he bumped Daisy's shoulder in acknowledgement without looking up from their conversation. He made sure that he kept Carl at Daisy's pace so the three walked together but Daisy remained in silent thought.

"Hey," Daryl greeting after Michonne came back to talk to Carl.

"Hi," Daisy answered.

"You're quiet," he commented after a second of silence.

Daisy shrugged, readjusted her backpacks straps and mumbled, "S'not much to say."

"Bullshit," Daryl shot back in a playful tone.

"Shit hit the fan, I need a minute to gather myself and clean up my apartment. If you know what I mean?" She said while looking down at the train tracks they were walking on.

Daryl kept his eyes on her face, he noticed her jaw clenched and the tension in her shoulders, "You should relax."

His nonchalant demeanor caused Daisy to snap her attention to him while glaring at him heatedly before she sighed and looked back at that ground, "I knew there was still some fire in you." He laughed but she didn't.

"Yeah it's still there, I'm just tired." She said with a frown.

Daryl swallowed, "Yeah you can say that again. Remember before all this when people thought going to the gym, owning a home, and havin' a full time job was hard work? And the people would come home after a long hard day o' sittin' on they're asses and have the nads to say I'm exhausted" Daisy smiled slightly and continued to listen, "This is what tired is, I wish those suckers could've gotten a glimpse at the future just so'z they appreciate what they had when they had it. Y'know?"

Daisy couldn't hold back her laugh despite her conflicting thoughts, "I didn't expect all that, when I said that I was tired."

Daryl blushed, "Fine. I won't say nothin' no more to ya." He began to speed up but stopped when he felt Daisy's small hand on his forearm. He glanced behind him, Daisy was giggling and one of her other hands were trying to cover up her laughter. He continued to pretend to storm away.

"Oh come on Darylina I was only kidding." Daisy called after him, he stopped in his tracks, "What's wrong?" She asked suddenly serious and raising her machete.

"My brother used to call me that." He muttered.

Daisy lowered her weapon, "Oh I'm sorry I won't call you that again."

Daryl shrugged, "Nah, it's alright. It sounds different comin' from you anyhow." Daisy batted her eyelashes at him obnoxiously, "Not like that, but no one's ever called me that 'side him and I thought I'd hate it. I don't really matter to me one way or the other I guess. It's just a name."

Daisy grinned, "That's very noble of you Mr. Dixon."

"Mr. Dixon's my father," He winked at her and then snorted.

Rick led them to a wooded area just outside of Terminus and examined the ground. He reached into one of their weapons bags and pulled out a shovel.

Daryl's eyes met his, "Just in case." He reasoned and Daryl nodded and took the shovel. After they hid their extra artillery they made their way to a side of the gated off _sanctuary._

"I should go over first, I'm the smallest and I was an acrobat." Daisy offered.

"No," Daryl and Rick said at the same time.

"I'll go over first, I'll make sure its clear and I'll signal for you all to come over. Understand?" Rick asked the group mumbled various affirmations or nods. Daryl knelt down and laced his fingers offering Rick a boost. Rick okay'd them from the other side of the fence and they all climbed over, Daryl last. Guns at the ready the five of them cleared the area and followed Rick into the nearest building.

"Community for all. Sanctuary for all. Terminus. Where the tracks meet." They rounded the corner and stopped in their tracks coming faced to face with several people.

A man turned and chuckled, "I guess we know who's on watch right now." He sighed, "Welcome friends no need to be afraid, I guess I'll have to give you the shpeal since you chose the side entrance and missed the welcome wagon."

They kept their weapons raised, "Come on, we won't hurt you." He paused, "But we also won't hesitate to hurt you if you try to hurt us."

Rick lowered his pistol and everyone followed suit, everyone except Daryl who kept his crossbow eye level with the man. "My names Gareth and I'm sure you understand why I'd feel a lot more comfortable if you, the intruder, got his weapon out of my face while I'm in my home."

Daryl frowned and lowered his arms, "Welcome to Terminus, looks like you guys have been on the road for a long time. Come on we'll go to the main entrance and get something fixed to you to eat." Gareth motioned for the five to follow two Terminus natives while he talked to Rick at the rear of the group.

Daisy couldn't shake the feeling that they were being herded to the main gate, the smell of grilled meat met her nostrils as they turned the corner. An old woman and a few other Terminus natives in all of a few seconds she followed suit with the others not entirely sure why they had drawn their weapons.

"Where did you get that watch!" Rick asked with his pistol to Gareth's throat. The man in question tried to reason with Rick before he gave up his façade and began to chortle.

"Well we tried," Gareth whistled and suddenly the area around them was lit up with gunfire. Daisy pulled out a few knives and landed on directly between the eyes of one of the Terminus members. Amongst the commotion Daisy felt Carl grab her hand and pull her along with the others into a building.

"They're not trying to shoot us," Daryl noted as the barricaded the door and tried to catch their breath.

"They're herding us!" Daisy exclaimed as she wretched her hand from Carl's and pulled out her weapons.

"Daisy it's no use, there's too many of them," Michonne attempted to reason.

She snorted in response, "I'm taking one of those bastard out with me."

"Come on, we need to make for the gate!" Daryl ordered as the rest of the four followed suit and burst through the door into the open. The gunfire resumed and the group was coaxed into a trap.

"You've got nowhere to go." Gareth's voice boomed from one of the roof tops, they looked up to see him walking closer to the edge making himself visible.

"We just wanted peace," Rick shot back, "But you hurt our friends."

"You're friends didn't want to follow the rules, besides…we haven't hurt anyone—" He paused and then laughed, "Yet."

"I want you all to go into the train car, I want the kid to go first, then the Archer, the Samurai, after her the knife thrower, and then you cowboy. In that order or we light you up again, and this time we aim to kill."

Reluctantly they followed his orders and waited in line at the train car door. "Go in." Gareth ordered. Carl peeled back the rusted iron door with some effort and walked in, the others following slowly. Daisy took notice to her surroundings before she stepped inside she closed her eyes and visualized the area again.

 _'You can never be too prepared.'_ She thought wryly.

The train door closed behind them and Daisy looked around the room, they weren't the only ones in the box.


End file.
